11/07/2025
Happy Friday lovelies! It’s Tylar, your Mrs. RUU!
To kick off the first post of Diabetes Awareness Month- I wanted to shine some light on Bailey and Cooper. Bailey is a German Shepherd mix, Cooper is a Golden-doodle. Bailey is a fully trained Diabetic Alert Dog (DAD), Bailey also is trained to provide me with Deep Pressure Therapy. Cooper is my DAD in training!
You may wonder what a DAD is..Diabetic service dogs, also called diabetic alert dogs or DADs, are trained to let their handler know when their blood sugar has spiked too high or dropped too low. Both Cooper and Bailey constantly alert to low blood sugars for me. (I unfortunately am terrible at catching Coopers with a photo😅)
Diabetic alert dogs are. trained to smell the chemical changes in your breath, saliva, and sweat that happen when your blood sugar levels shift. DADs are a great tool to have-unfortunately they are not the most cost friendly to obtain. A typical, fully trained diabetic alert dog is usually anywhere from 10,000-30,000 dollars, depending on the program, and insurance won't help cover these costs. Both Bailey and Cooper are trained by me.
While all the advancements in technology are phenomenal, sometimes, they don't catch the lows right away. I myself rely on my Dexcome G6, and Omnipod to measure my glucose levels, and deliver insulin. Sometimes the CGM doesn't notice the low right away, or will have incorrect values, saying that I'm in range, when I'm not- which can lead to life threatening scenarios. Both Bailey and Cooper also do night alerts, meaning they will wake me up in the middle of the night if they smell a low blood sugar.
I plan to post a little video tomorrow, talking more in depth about these boys, their training, and tools! so stay tuned!