Seth-7 yrs, Dx on Jan. 15th 2007
Rex – 7 months, British Lab
Seth was diagnosed when he was 4 yrs old and was pumping in 3 months. As parents of a child with Diabetes we felt we wanted a back up method of safety to prevent seizures, hypoglycemia unawareness, and long term complications, so we set out to get a DAD. I first heard of DADs in an article from Diabetes Health in 2007 and proceeded to research and try and contact any training facilities. We decided to wait until Seth was older before we attempted to move in that direction and add a dog to the diabetes mix.
After MUCH research, we adopted Rex in June of 2009, when he was only 6 weeks old. Training began immediately!
Rex is now 7 months old and alerts before high’s and low’s. He has a very sweet and loving personality and truly has been patient with all our miss haps.
Rex sleeps with Seth and has started alerting us at night with exhuberance.
Our goal is to have Rex ready for the Canine Good Citizen test by 2 yrs old.
Unexpected experiences…
1-Bringing a pup to the zoo is not really a good idea
2- Flying with a 6 week old pup and a 6 yr old takes 3 parents NOT 2
3- Service dog bags are bigger than diaper bags
4- Too much Peanut Butter causes diarrhea and refer to #2
5-Pups don’t like the smell of Sea Lion’s
6-Vommtting happens / refer to #2
7-7 yr olds don’t like their toys eaten
8-7 yr olds don’t like “the TAIL”
9-Adults can’t read ” Don’t Pet the service dog” patch
10- Americans can’t help but TALK to dogs when seen in public
11-Arizona pavement is 170 degrees in the summer
12- Labs get heavy/ refer to #11
13- Labs also know how to unbuckle children’s seat-belts while driving in traffic at a high rate of speed
14-Labs REALLY like Christmas tree ornaments
15- To be Continued in the years to come…
I really appreciated some of the things you included in your list – I talk with so many families DAILY who *think* they want a diabetic alert dog – they are so ‘in love’ with the IDEA of a DAD . . . and so desparate for help, that it is impossible for them to see the REALITY. Reality is that it is HARD – it is a LOT of responisbility for a child/ for the parents. I always tell families that it is MORE work, not less! Initially it is MORE finger sticks, MORE money, LESS sleep, MORE to manage. . .
and it can be OVERWHELMING to a child to have a dog with them so much! I smiled when you mentioned “the tail” – they *DO* seem to work overtime and can cause toys to tumble, etc!!
anyway, thanks for the honest perspective . . A DAD can be a super tool for daibetes management, but it is NOT without its drawbacks, especially in a child’s world !
Rachel, I agree about the work but I must say that Rex has become such a huge part of our lives and makes me smile everyday. When there is a cure for diabetes , he will still make us the happiest family ever. He is part of us now and we are so grateful he decided to spend his life with us and honored that he loves us.
patience, your comment made me smile! I totally and completely agree. Mr Darcy is a HUGE part of our lives – each member of our family has a unique relationship with him and none of us can remember life without Mr D ! He is the best and we have ZERO regrets!
There IS a lot of work, but the rewards are sooo worthy of the efforts!
Patience
Have you run into troubles in school? We have not gotten our dog yet but I have had some of the teachers express concerns: students being mean to the dog, potty breaks, the dog being a distraction to students who already have attention issues. Have you found any of these to be problems and how have you dealt with them?
i love this! i will def. try to post our whirlwind experiences soon! love the list of things they like/dislike ;D we haven’t had too many issues at school. the only one we had last year with nick was at lunch time the girls in the office LOVED him and would take him into the office so malia could have a break and so he could chill while she ran around… problem was this… he didn’t wanto to be in the office, they didn’t really ask me if it was ok to seperate them, and he would bark for her. he was so good at alerting at a distance, and he couldn’t get to her or watch her the way he wanted to. but the kids all got a lesson when we first went to school with him and we explained what he did and all the rules and we would let them pert him AFTER school when i went to pick them up. he was such a ham he loved it! we neer had an issue with the kids. like patience said though ADULTS can’t read the don’t pet me sign! it’s amazing, all the kids ask but never the adults! at school and at softball he just became one of the kids and they didn’t get distacted by him.
does seth take rex to school yet? we chose not to send the dogs to school this year as malia is extremely hormonal and can’t pay attention to a nat let alone a dog! so as she gets back to normal we will elt her take him to school again. does seth take him to friends houses? how do they do? how are the parents about it. we have gotten mixed reactions, even lost a friend or 2. we like our dog more!
they are such a cute pair!
jessica, we’d LOVE to spotlight malia and nick !!! PLEASE send me a story and picture!! can’t wait!!!!
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