A Dog’s Job: The Right Nose for Diabetes

This early warning system is hairy and has a cold snout: Diabetes detection dogs, also called hypo dogs, hardly give way from their owner and hit alarm with the paw if a hypoglycaemia is threatening to come up – often long before the owner notes the first signs himself.

01/04/2011

Bella shows with her paw which
cloth smells like hypoglycaemia;
© www.hypo-hundeschule.de

At first sight Bella is no well-educated dog: She scratches Felix Müller's leg with her paw until he gives her some attention. However, at second sight one recognises a small black pocket in her mouth. The content: Glucose for the master and a special treat for the dog.

Felix Müller is Type 1 diabetic and Bella is his hypo dog. As soon as she sniffs the first signs for hypoglycaemia, Bella does not give way from her master and calls attention to herself with her paw. „We coached Bella for my typical body odour with hypoglycaemia from puppy's age,“ explains Müller. Out of several T-shirts she had to find exactly this one which her master has carried during hypoglycaemia. For every successful announcement there was a reward. „We tried to teach Bella a whole behavioural chain in a playful way. Because already as a puppy she was very intelligent and willing to learn, the first results appeared quickly,“ Felix Müller explains. In 2009 the Wolfsspitz's lady took her exam as a hypo dog.

Bella is ready to take off - she is
allowed to fly in the passenger
compartment of the airplane;
© www.hypo-hundeschule.de

Responsibility lies with the human

Bella’s hit ratio is high: In nine of ten cases she indicates a menacing hypoglycaemia on time and reliably. However, she cannot substitute regular measurements and medical supervision. Her master knows this, too. „Even if it does not always work, Bella ensures an incredible security to me in everyday life and with it a big piece of quality of life,“ he says. Besides that, he has his blood glucose measuring instrument with him nevertheless. Müller does not want to transfer the complete responsibility for him and his health to his dog. After all, Bella should also be able to enjoy her dog life.

The fact that above all dogs are living beings having certain demands, Rainer Wohlfahrt also stresses. The technical manager of the Freiburg Institute of Animal-Supported Therapy does not want dogs to be functionalised.

He also knows that the dogs being used for therapeutic purposes should have stable nerves and have to be resistant to stress. „Dogs are suited very well to support diabetics. On the one hand, because they are able to obey commands, and on the other hand because they react very sensitively to all signals,“ says Rainer Wohlfahrt.

Diabetes warning dogs bring their owner juice or glucose or even the measuring device, when hypoglycaemia is threatening to come up when lying in bed; © Diana Poyson

Practice makes perfect, if you want to be a master

Nevertheless, not every dog can become a diabetes warning dog. Even if the race does not really matter, the dogs should at least have a pointed snout, so that their sense of smell can develop very well.

„Moreover, diabetes warning dogs should be very obedient and friendly. Characteristics like aggressive behaviour or the hunting instinct are additional exclusion criteria,“ assistance dog's trainer Diana Poyson adds. In the association „people for dogs – dogs for diabetics inc.“ she teaches together with another trainer as well as with volunteer assistants diabetes warning dogs.

Already at the puppy's age the dogs are observed and tested for their suitability. Up to the finished education after about 18 months the dogs are coached exclusively by Diana Poyson and her colleague. The animals get to know their future master or mistress after this time in a two week long training event. „This is the standard of our umbrella organisation Assistance Dogs Europe,“ explains Poyson.

In contrast, Rainer Wohlfahrt stresses how important it is that the future hypo dog has to be with the owner from an early age, so that the connection between them can stabilise. „Man and dog form a team. And teams should train together,“ according to Wohlfahrt. Anna Sophie and Felix Müller share Wohlfahrts opinion.

When Bella regocnises first signs of hypoglycaemia, she does not give way from her master. After every successful announcement they unpack the treats together: glucose for the master and a piece of sausage for Bella; © www.hypo-hundeschule.de

Studies in the sweat of ones brow

That’s why they only train man and animal together in their hypo dog school. „It is the best way if the diabetics come to us directly with their puppies. At this age they learn especially fast and build up the intensive connection to the owner in parallel,“ says Anna Sophie Müller. „We think it is methodically wrong to train entirely without the respective owner,“ both add concerning the education approach of Diana Poyson.

With Müller man and dog are trained intensely for 15 months – on the week-ends in the dog school and during the week at home. After this time, either the Professional Organisation of the Dog Educators and Behavioral Consultants Inc. or the German Professional Organisation for Therapy and Handicapped Accompanying Dogs Inc. conduct the examination as a legally approved assistance dog or handicapped accompanying dog (hypo dog).

The diabetes warning dogs of Diana Poyson complete their education with an examination of the organisation Assistance Dogs Europe. The different standards for education and examination show that a consistent guideline has not enforced yet.

If Bella brings along the pocket with
glucose, she gets a delicious reward;
© www.hypo-hundeschule.de

However, Wohlfahrt stresses that for everybody it is important that the trainer regularly checks the cooperation of the team. Exactly like Felix Müller,Wohlfahrt is of the opinion that the dogs should remain in the training regularly – even after a successfully passed examination. Only this way it can be guaranteed that man and dog can depend on each other in future.

What exactly makes the dogs react while recognising hypoglycaemia, actually, has not been clearly investigated until today. According to a study of the Irish Queen's University of Belfast from 2009, the animals perceive changes in the smell of the breath and the sweat of the diabetics. A reaction on muscle convulsions, above all in the area of the eyes, and other optical signs are also not excluded.

Nadine Lormis
REHACARE.de