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, is trained to recognize the distinctive fragrance Type 1 diabetic Ms. Chew emits when she’s hypoglycemic.
Butter continued to lick Ms. Chew until she was able to swallow some sugar. It can also bring her sweetened beverages to help her with blood sugar.
The diabetic alert dog is one of five dogs Ms. Chew trained. It has the potential to save lives.
Ms. Chew described the worst stage of hypoglycemia as patients who have blood sugar levels dangerously low.
“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 explained that even if there were someone to help, patients may not understand themselves and be unable to communicate their thoughts.
How can dogs be trained?
According to Ms. Chew’s research, dogs can help diabetics with logic and rewards.
“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.
Dogs learn to recognize smells by being given rewards.
This is possible by having the patient collect saliva samples on tissue paper and hypoglycemia. Then, they freeze the bags in a bag and take them. The scent is then taught to the dog using the bag.
“The minute the dog shows interest in the smell, just give it a treat,” Ms Chew said.
Training takes no more than five minutes per day. The dog will become so sensitive to the scent, that it knows it is worth a treat if it reacts to it.
“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 best suited?
Ms. Chew believes that diabetic-alert dog breeds are better if their dogs enjoy work and show a sense of duty.
Although the breed is not crucial, she stated that labradors as well as golden retrievers are best suited for this job because they love to please.
She stated that certain Singapore Specials, or local mixed breed dogs, had a similar temperament.
Source: CNA
