I have an Alert Log Form that keeps a record of every high or low alert that Bailey gives, the blood glucose level of each alert, the time it took place and whether Bailey gave a spontaneous alert, a missed alert or gave an alert when prompted.
The past two weeks have seen Bailey alert to a dozen or so highs, half of which he alerted to spontaneously, and the remaining he alerted as soon as he saw the meter come out. Jason has had only a couple of lows.
So Jason's BGL's have been very good overall with the majority of these high alerts only slightly over his target range.
So why is Bailey alerting regularly to highs? Well, for starters there have been very limited lows, which is good for Jason. And secondly, he's doing a really great job. I think the fact that Jason's BGL's have been very good the last couple of weeks means that Bailey is more likely to pick up when he's out of his target range. And as I've mentioned already, Bailey is keeping very tight control of the highs, alerting to anything over 10 (Jason's ideal range is between 5 and 10). I haven't given him this range in training, he has worked this out for himself. I have only introduced very high numbers to him.
The other night he alerted me with a high signal out of the blue. I had just left the room Jason was in when he nudged and pawed me. He has only ever alerted me when Jason is in the same room so this one was a little unusual. I hesitated responding because of this, so he keep nudging and pawing me and became very insistent. As I walked back down the hallway to the lounge room where Jason was, he continued to bump me on the back of the leg (great mobile alerting Bailey)! When I was testing Jason's BGL's, Bailey continued to alert. Jason's BGL's were 8.6! In range...but when I didn't respond to Bailey's alert, he started to bark at me. He doesn't usually do this and barking is discouraged, but he was definitely trying to tell me something and wasn't going to let me ignore him! He has detected dramatic drops in Jason's BGL's numerous times before, so the only logical explanation was that he had detected a rise taking place this time. It has also been said that BG meter devices have a permitted level of inaccuracy (up to 20%) and can fail. Typically, diabetic alert dogs can detect changes in blood sugars 15-40 minutes ahead of the meter. With this said, Jason was also not feeling great, so my instinct was to listen to the dog!
I don't think he has anticipated a high before, so it was interesting to see what would happen in the next half hour when we would test Jason again. Thirty minutes later, Jason's BGL's had risen to 12.3! Not as dramatic as expected but we corrected Jason's BGL's with a bolus at this point (extra insulin to correct a rise or anticipated rise in blood sugars), which means he could have still been on the up but we didn't wait to find out. At times like this, you have to make the decision when you start to listen to Bailey and how far you want to see where it goes. If we'd have given Jason a bolus when Bailey first alerted, he would have remained in range.
Things have really changed with Bailey now alerting to highs too and he's very good at it!
Everything's coming together nicely...
The past two weeks have seen Bailey alert to a dozen or so highs, half of which he alerted to spontaneously, and the remaining he alerted as soon as he saw the meter come out. Jason has had only a couple of lows.
So Jason's BGL's have been very good overall with the majority of these high alerts only slightly over his target range.
So why is Bailey alerting regularly to highs? Well, for starters there have been very limited lows, which is good for Jason. And secondly, he's doing a really great job. I think the fact that Jason's BGL's have been very good the last couple of weeks means that Bailey is more likely to pick up when he's out of his target range. And as I've mentioned already, Bailey is keeping very tight control of the highs, alerting to anything over 10 (Jason's ideal range is between 5 and 10). I haven't given him this range in training, he has worked this out for himself. I have only introduced very high numbers to him.
The other night he alerted me with a high signal out of the blue. I had just left the room Jason was in when he nudged and pawed me. He has only ever alerted me when Jason is in the same room so this one was a little unusual. I hesitated responding because of this, so he keep nudging and pawing me and became very insistent. As I walked back down the hallway to the lounge room where Jason was, he continued to bump me on the back of the leg (great mobile alerting Bailey)! When I was testing Jason's BGL's, Bailey continued to alert. Jason's BGL's were 8.6! In range...but when I didn't respond to Bailey's alert, he started to bark at me. He doesn't usually do this and barking is discouraged, but he was definitely trying to tell me something and wasn't going to let me ignore him! He has detected dramatic drops in Jason's BGL's numerous times before, so the only logical explanation was that he had detected a rise taking place this time. It has also been said that BG meter devices have a permitted level of inaccuracy (up to 20%) and can fail. Typically, diabetic alert dogs can detect changes in blood sugars 15-40 minutes ahead of the meter. With this said, Jason was also not feeling great, so my instinct was to listen to the dog!
I don't think he has anticipated a high before, so it was interesting to see what would happen in the next half hour when we would test Jason again. Thirty minutes later, Jason's BGL's had risen to 12.3! Not as dramatic as expected but we corrected Jason's BGL's with a bolus at this point (extra insulin to correct a rise or anticipated rise in blood sugars), which means he could have still been on the up but we didn't wait to find out. At times like this, you have to make the decision when you start to listen to Bailey and how far you want to see where it goes. If we'd have given Jason a bolus when Bailey first alerted, he would have remained in range.
Things have really changed with Bailey now alerting to highs too and he's very good at it!
Everything's coming together nicely...