subject: How Dogs Can Help Manage Diabetes [print this page] One of the most dangerous complications that a diabetic can undergo is hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. Hypoglycemia is the condition where the diabetic's blood sugar level become too low, causing the body to shutdown. On the other hand, hyperglycemia is the condition where the blood sugar levels are too high, causing massive spikes in activity as well as conditioning.
Currently, scheduled pricking and blood sugar measurement is the manner in which these conditions are avoided. This is an obvious chore and these conditions may suddenly manifest themselves between these scheduled checks, causing the problems to arise suddenly. Now, man's best friend can come into the picture and help diabetics manage these very dangerous conditions from arising throughout the day.
While there are seeing eye dogs for the blind, there is new training for your friendly pooch to help you manage your diabetes. Training to become hypo alert dogs is a step-by-step program that can help your dog become your partner in diabetes management. The following are the lessons that dogs can become hypo alert dogs:
Companion. As a companion, the hypo alert dog becomes familiar with your overall presence. These include activities that need to be done as a diabetes, such as the pricking, the doctor's appointment and the diet. The dog can learn what the daily schedule would be and act appropriately.
Detection. Because of the dog's heightened sense of smell, the familiarity of the dog with the owner can help in early detection of the onset of the attack. When hypoglycemia is about to attack, the dog would be able to detect the hormonal scent exuded by the owner, which is thought to smell like rusty water or nail polish remover. If a hypoglycemic attack is about to occur, the dog would be able to detect the scent of tutty fruity gum from the owner. The scent is beyond the sensory perception of humans and the dog would be able to detect the scent of danger even a half an hour before the attack would come.
Warning. Once the canine is able to detect the danger, the dog would then be trained to take a number of steps to warn the owner. These would include catch attention or even get the diabetes insulin emergency pack all sufferers of the condition would have. This would avert any untoward incident that would endanger the owner. Training the dog to become a live and advanced warning system for an attack would certainly help in alleviating the highs and lows that are often the problems in properly managing the condition.
While many still are skeptical as to the veracity of the ability of hypo alert dogs, proper training together with a keen sense of kinship can help make this relationship work. Proper training, aside from the companionship, can make your best friend the lifesaver on the daily travails of a diabetic.
