It’s possible that Stella Chew’s dog doesn’t lick her out of affection. It might be as a result of Ms. Chew’s low blood sugar.
Butter, a service dog, has been taught to recognize the distinct fragrance that Type 1 diabetic Ms. Chew gives off when she is beginning to get hypoglycemic, or when her blood glucose level is low.
After that, Butter would continue to lick her until Ms. Chew was able to ingest some sugar. Additionally, it can bring her a sweetened beverage to help when she needs to elevate her blood sugar levels.
Among the five dogs Ms. Chew has trained, the diabetic alert dog has the potential to save lives.
Describing the most severe stage of hypoglycemia, Ms. Chew said that when the blood sugar levels are dangerously low, patients start to perspire.
“You literally feel like you are dying. And that’s a very scary feeling,” she said.
“Sometimes at that stage, you can’t even help yourself, you can’t even get out of bed. You can’t even get yourself some sugar.”
She added that even if there was someone around and willing to help, patients may not be able to articulate themselves as they cannot think.
How are dogs trained?
According to Ms. Chew, dogs can be trained to assist diabetics using rewards and logic.
“Our bodies emit some odor when we experience a hypoglycemic episode. The only thing left to do is to inform the dog, “If you smell this, let me know,” she added.
A dog is educated through rewards to recognize the smell, which, according to her, is produced when the stress hormone is active and the body is breaking down lipids.
In order for this to occur, the patient must gather saliva samples on tissue paper while having hypoglycemia, freeze them in a bag, and then take them. The dog is then trained to recognize the fragrance using the bag.
“The minute the dog shows interest in the smell, just give it a treat,” Ms Chew said.
The training, which takes less than five minutes a day, is conducted until the dog gets so attuned to the scent that it knows that once it detects and reacts to the smell, it will get a treat.
“You can hide the sample behind the sofa, under the sofa and then they will just go search for it. At that point in time, you know, okay, the dog is ready,” she said.
Which dogs are suitable?
According to Ms. Chew, dogs who enjoy working and have a strong sense of duty make better diabetic-alert dogs.
Although the breed is not very important, she claimed that labradors and golden retrievers are particularly well-suited for this type of job due to their enthusiasm to please.
She claimed that certain Singapore specials, or local mixed-breed dogs, have a comparable temperament.
Source: CNA
