A specially trained dog is able to smell the owner’s hypoglycemia and raise the alarm in time. A beautiful nose helps not only detectives in search of drugs or explosives, but also diabetics.
Why does a dog need more type 1 diabetes than type 2?
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease based on absolute or relative insulin deficiency. Improper treatment increases the risk of damage to blood vessels.
There are 2 main groups of diabetes, the most common form of which is type 2 diabetes (about 90% of patients). Type 1 is characterized by an absolute deficiency of insulin, while 2 - a violation of its production.
A diabetic dog is an adjuvant for people who have problems with blood sugar control.
Hypoglycemia - a decrease in blood glucose. The frequency of the condition has decreased significantly due to modern insulin therapy.
If the blood sugar level drops rapidly, especially type 1 diabetics can be difficult to notice and timely eliminate the pathology. Type 2 diabetics are less likely to experience hypoglycemia attacks.
Does the dog always help in an emergency?
Regular monitoring of blood glucose is especially important for type 1 diabetics. A diabetic dog helps prevent hypoglycemia, which can severely and sometimes irreversibly damage organs.
A diabetic dog is a friend who raises anxiety when a diabetic gets sick.
She best perceives low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) when she sniffs her master’s mouth.
The dog is trained with breath and saliva samples that show signs of hypoglycemia. A study in the UK showed that type 1 diabetics with a special dog have fewer complications.
Is each breed a diabetic dog?
Theoretically, each dog can become an assistant to a person.
More suitable are four-legged friends with pronounced olfactory feelings - a German shepherd or labrador.
Breeds with a short nose - a pug or a bulldog - are less capable of learning. They have fewer olfactory cells and are more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases of varying severity.
Training for a diabetic dog
It’s easier to train an ordinary dog than a drug seeker. An animal aimed at finding drugs acts only on command. Well trained diabetic dogs do this without a team. They also wake up at night when the host suffers from hypoglycemia, and then they sound the alarm.
Independence is a particularly important criterion for a diabetic dog because it must become active in case of emergency.
Odor training takes place with breath and saliva samples. It is carried out at any time of the day or night and in any place where the animal should be actively.
Can dogs save not only diabetes?
In the medical field, however, dog care is not limited to diabetes. They can smell cancer in their early and late stages.
Cell death is accompanied by the release of alkaline substances that animals can perceive. Based on urine, saliva, and a breath sample, the dog recognizes whether a person has cancer.
The animal cannot determine the exact type of cancer. However, if the dog responds to a urine sample, it is obvious that this is a form of cancer in the lower parts of the body. This makes it easier to detect cancer of the bladder, prostate, ovary, or cervix.
Epileptic seizures are also effectively detected by dogs. Another recent area is training dogs to smell allergens. This is useful, for example, for people who are allergic to nuts. Training such animals takes a very long time, and it should be able to smell nuts in any conditions.
How much do specially trained animals cost?
A finished diabetic dog costs from 400,000 to 2,000,000 rubles. Health insurance does not pay for the purchase of an expensive animal. The cost of self-education of a dog with a trained trainer averages from 90,000 to 150,000 rubles.
