For the past two months, I have been debating this very question: should I invest in a diabetes service dog? Until two months ago, I didn’t even know this was a thing. In my defense, it’s quite recent- although service dogs have been used for years, diabetic assistance dogs only started popping up in the past few years, after anecdotal evidence suggested that dogs could sense blood sugars. Diabetes service dogs are trained to smell your scent when your blood sugars go low or high, and both alert you (by nudging, pawing, laying on you, etc.) and assist you (by bringing you testing supplies, glucose, insulin, or even getting help). For a Type 1 diabetic that lives alone, the latter part is really appealing.

Since moving into my own place a few months ago I have had at least 3 true blood sugar crashes that made me fearful of what could happen. One morning I woke up and the site of my insulin pump had become detached, resulting in sky-high blood sugar. (more…)