Bitch monitors nine-year diabetics

Bitch Lulu helps the diabetic Arnold in everyday life

14/10/2011

Specially trained dogs can greatly facilitate the lives of diabetics and minimize potential health risks from the disease. For example, nine-year-old Arnold has the bitch Lulu, who accompanies him almost everywhere and takes care of him.

The bitch Lulu is now so well-known that a book has already been written about her. She does not deviate from Arnold's side and makes sure that diabetes is not dangerous to him if possible. For this the bitch was intensively trained. Lulu raises alarm if the blood sugar level of the little Arnold sinks too far or rises too much. Either she picks up Arnold's parents or presses an emergency button on the phone and calls for help.

Dogs sniff out the condition
Dogs, with their extremely good nose, can sniff a variety of human diseases. In diabetes, the four-legged are even able to smell the blood sugar level. This ability can also be used to train special diabetic dogs. Nine-year-old Arnold's best friend, Lulu, is such a diabetic bitch. Arnold was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus at the age of two. The boy's organism is unable to produce enough insulin, which is required as a hormone for processing carbohydrates. As a result, his blood sugar level rises sharply after the intake of carbohydrate-containing foods such as potatoes, cereals, corn, rice or candy, which can sometimes have quite critical consequences for the health.

In order to allow the organism to process the carbohydrates, most diabetics have to administer insulin to their body in the form of injections or tablets (in the case of particularly mild variants of the disease, it is enough to follow a strict diet). In order to always notice in good time, when Arnold has difficulties with his blood sugar level, Lulu accompanied the boy from Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) at every turn. Arnold not only threatens to high blood sugar levels after the carbohydrate-containing food, but due to the poor carbohydrate processing, there is also the risk of so-called low blood sugar, in which Arnold has too little sugar in the blood. Both recognize Lulu and immediately alerted the parents of the boy.

Diabetic dogs as a lifesaver
While Arnold is asleep, the Labrador bitch watches to see that everything is alright with his blood sugar levels. If danger threatens, Lulu tries to wake the nine-year-old, this will not succeed, Lulu goes into the parents' bedroom and alerts them. Then the parents can respond immediately and Arnold, for example, in the case of imminent hypoglycaemia quickly administer a piece of glucose, so his blood sugar levels back into balance. If Arnold's parents are not at home, Lulu can also call for help with an emergency button on the phone in case of emergency. So Lulu is not only the best friend of Arnold, but also a kind of diabetes alarm system that reacts very sensitively to the needs of the boy. The Labrador bitch accompanies Arnold almost everywhere - including to school and picks him up from there again. In the future Lulu should sit in the classroom next to Arnold, but the family has to train a bit with the bitch before.

Diabetic warning dogs command up to 250 individual commands
According to his own information, Arnold's family learned about the diabetic warning dogs from a magazine. The specially trained dogs are according to the statement of the nonprofit association „People for Dogs for Diabetics e.V..“ Helpful and life-saving for any type 1 diabetic who has problems with his diabetes, for all diabetics living alone, for diabetics who hypnotise at night, and for diabetic children, „which allows a diabetic dog a piece of normal life“. The dogs are specially trained in the perception of hypoglycemia-related chemical processes in the body of diabetics, which can smell the four-legged from the breath and sweat. However, according to the association, detecting hypoglycaemia is not the only task a diabetic dog must master - „rather, the diabetic dog learns up to 250 different individual commands.“ (Fp)

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