Diabetic service dog 4 Joe

Joe’s Story Joe is a 9 year old boy who loves football. He was diagnosed in January 2014 as a Type 1 diabetic. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin.  Insulin is a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. There is nothing we could have done to prevent T1D, and at present, there is no cure.   Living with T1D is a constant challenge for him. Joe must carefully balance insulin doses (either by injections multiple times a day or continuous infusion through a pump) with eating and other activities throughout the day and night. We must also measure his blood-glucose levels by pricking his little fingers for blood six or more times a day. Despite our constant attention to the disease, Joe still runs the risk of dangerously high or low blood-glucose levels, both of which can be life threatening.   Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. The risk of death for people with diabetes is about double that of people of similar age without diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness.  Although there is no cure, there is still hope. Hope to live a long and fruitful life.   “How can a dog help someone with diabetes ?”   A dog’s smelling capacity is 10-50 times stronger than man’s.  They have the capability of ‘tasting’ smells, as well as, categorizing scents and associating smells with specific human responses. They can be trained to not only recognize the change, but react to the change, as well.  There is no technology available that can react, in real time, like a trained diabetic service dog. A service dog can also alert us if our son is unresponsive and needs assistance. They can bring objects such as juice bottles or medicines in case of an emergency. To a diabetic, a service dog can increase their independence and quality of life.   What does it cost?   The direct cost associated with buying a pure breed and training a diabetic service dog is $25,000 - $50,000. But the cost for training your own dog to be a diabetic service dog ranges from $8,000 - $10,000. The process typically takes 12 – 18 months from start to finish.  We have decided to train our dog. Our challenge to raise $8,000 to cover the vet, training and transportation costs.   Who is our Service Dog Trainer?    We are working with a company called Elite K9 Academy. Nick Kutsukos, our dog trainer, is a certified by the IACP and the APDT association. He has years of experience training Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs and Assistance Dogs.  He is located Jupiter, Florida were our dog will be receiving most of her training. As soon as we reach our goal, he will begin the process of training our dog to save Joe’s life. We all look forward to working together to train our dog.  What does it take to become a diabetic service dog?  Basic obedience and manners  Scent discrimination  skills Retrieve something as small as a dime, as delicate as a tissue, and as heavy as a 5 lb shopping bag! Place items in a person’s hands, on a surface (like a counter), or in a basket Turn on and off light switches Tug open doors, refrigerators, cabinets doors and drawers
Unzip and tug off clothing
Assist with transfers or help people stand from the floor or a chair
Find help in cases of  emergency
After all the training the dog will be expected to pass the following test. The Pet Partners Aptitude Test The Canine Good Citizen Test The Public Access Test
About our dog Nagra is a 2yr old Black lab. Her mother was homeless and found on the side of the road. She is full of personality and love. She enjoys playing at the beach and lying in the sun on some cool grass.  She is very smart and enjoys finding ways to eat your food (when you blink your eyes). Her hobbies include chewing on non-edible items and hiding things from her mom.   She is the definition of unconditional love   We love her!