Everyday life with a potentially deadly condition can be hard to manage even for adults, so imagine what it’s like for children.
An organization near Sarasota called BioScent K9 is working to help type one diabetics manage their blood sugar - and they’re using dogs to do that.
"Dogs are looking for a specific scent when, of low blood sugar is what we train on,” said BioScent K9 President Heather Junqueira. She says they use positive reinforcement to train the dogs to identify the scent.
"For them it's about getting the treat,” Junqueira said. “But for the person, it's about ‘wow’ they might alert me before my sensors go off."
Kayhlah Gunsd is one of the young clients who keeps her blood sugar in check, and her hospital trips to a minimum with the help of her dog.
"My numbers have been everywhere lately from high to low, so we thought it would be a good idea to get a diabetic alert dog so we could alert me before it happened, and I didn't have to go to the hospital," she said.
Junqueira says the best part is helping keep kids healthy, and their families at ease.
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"The ultimate goal is for them at night that their parents might be able to sleep a little bit easier knowing that, that dog is going to alert and wake them up if those sugars drop and for some reason the sensor fails."
