They're trained to sniff out drugs and explosives, but man's best friend can also alert their owners about health issues. Jessica Lohry of the Pooch Academy is training two black labs to become diabetic alert dogs.
"They alert to oncoming low blood sugars," she says.
What they do during the day and at night takes an incredible amount of scent training. It all begins when they are puppies.
"We actually imprint the low blood sugar scent so what that means is from the youngest age we can do it, we introduce the scent and associate that with rewards," says Lohry.
The reward could be a treat, praise or their favorite toy. As service dogs, they go everywhere with their owner so the learning begins at home, but the practice goes public. All that training comes with a hefty price tag. Lohry tried to adopt one for herself, but was looking at up to a $20,000 bill. She decided to quit her job and attend the Triple Crown Dog Training Academy in Texas.
"I was an engineer and I quit that life to do this. I think it's so important because so many of us diabetics, we just have a tough time with life just getting through day to day," says Lohry.
Today, Lohry is using her skills to help others.
"I look like a perfectly normal person. You know, you see me walking down the street, you never know that maybe another ten minutes, I might stop, drop and roll on you and not remember it," says Ann Glover.
Glover has lived with diabetes for nearly 50 years. Lately, she has struggled to find the right blood sugar balance. Like many diabetics, she doesn't know when it's dropping to dangerous levels until it's too late.
"I can't feel it until I am just absolutely ready to fall on the floor," she says.
"The dogs will smell ears, eyes, breath, and occasionally they will smell wrists and ankles," says Lohry.
Experts say dogs can detect the change in blood sugar. Diabetics release chemicals that a trained nose can smell.
"I've got cats, dogs, birds and I've always had a dog with me, but I've never had one that I'm going to put so much faith and trust in. I have a lot of faith in those noses," says Glover.
Glover is taking one of the dogs home. The other is still looking for an owner. For more information on him or to learn how you can train your own dog, contact the Pooch Academy. We set up a link under "As Seen On 13".
"They alert to oncoming low blood sugars," she says.
What they do during the day and at night takes an incredible amount of scent training. It all begins when they are puppies.
"We actually imprint the low blood sugar scent so what that means is from the youngest age we can do it, we introduce the scent and associate that with rewards," says Lohry.
The reward could be a treat, praise or their favorite toy. As service dogs, they go everywhere with their owner so the learning begins at home, but the practice goes public. All that training comes with a hefty price tag. Lohry tried to adopt one for herself, but was looking at up to a $20,000 bill. She decided to quit her job and attend the Triple Crown Dog Training Academy in Texas.
"I was an engineer and I quit that life to do this. I think it's so important because so many of us diabetics, we just have a tough time with life just getting through day to day," says Lohry.
Today, Lohry is using her skills to help others.
"I look like a perfectly normal person. You know, you see me walking down the street, you never know that maybe another ten minutes, I might stop, drop and roll on you and not remember it," says Ann Glover.
Glover has lived with diabetes for nearly 50 years. Lately, she has struggled to find the right blood sugar balance. Like many diabetics, she doesn't know when it's dropping to dangerous levels until it's too late.
"I can't feel it until I am just absolutely ready to fall on the floor," she says.
"The dogs will smell ears, eyes, breath, and occasionally they will smell wrists and ankles," says Lohry.
Experts say dogs can detect the change in blood sugar. Diabetics release chemicals that a trained nose can smell.
"I've got cats, dogs, birds and I've always had a dog with me, but I've never had one that I'm going to put so much faith and trust in. I have a lot of faith in those noses," says Glover.
Glover is taking one of the dogs home. The other is still looking for an owner. For more information on him or to learn how you can train your own dog, contact the Pooch Academy. We set up a link under "As Seen On 13".
