I love a good dog story. Hey, I love dogs. What an amazing creature to have as a friend. And service dogs? What could be more benevolent than a seeing-eye dog, or more heroic than a rescue dog, laying it on the line. So, when I came across a good dog story the other day, I wanted to pass it on.

Front page of our local neighborhood newspaper, The Montclarion: FOUR-FOOTED MEDICAL ASSISTANT by Casey Hollis. I’d rather call it DOGGIE DIAGNOSTICIAN, or PUPPY PRACTITIONER, or FIDO PHYSICIAN. Sufferin’ succotash, somebody stop me. But I digress. Or I regress. Anyway…

You may have heard of experiments where dogs can be trained to recognize the scent of a certain cancer. But Colton, a 3-year old Golden Retriever-Lab mix, is no experiment. He’s a “medical alert assistance dog” who brings security and peace of mind to a family, and that famous canine best friendship to his young ward. Here’s the rest of the story–

Mei Mei was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was only 6. Her parents began the routine of checking her blood sugar level “8, 10, 12, sometimes 20 times a day” because acute low blood sugar can take a person into a coma in as little as 20 minutes. Imagine when you put your head on the pillow at night knowing your 6 year old little girl was at that kind of risk — every night for years. No peace of mind.

Now Mei Mei’s parents can rest easy thanks to a trustworthy, huggable friend. Colton can smell Mei Mei’s falling blood sugar level and he’s trained to raise an alert. He was trained by a one-of-a-kind, non-profit in Concord, California called Dogs4Diabetics. “There’s no medical equipment that does what these dogs can do,” says Devon Grayson, Director of Development. Dogs like Colton work even when you’re asleep.

D4D is run by its Director, Carol Edwards, along with a few trainers and many volunteers. This life-saving canine ability was discovered by accident when Carol and her friend and co-founder, Mark Reufenacht, went on a trip with Armstrong, a puppy Carol was training as a guide dog. When Mark, a diabetic, had a dip in blood sugar, Armstrong reacted and saved Mark’s life. That event sent Carol and Mark on four years of research. They discovered that the scent of low blood sugar the dogs could identify was the same for everyone. Armstrong was going around alerting members of the general public.

Having a D4D dog changes life medically and emotionally. It’s that peace of mind. Do a good thing — go out to D4D’s website and see about donating to the not-for-profit so more people can enjoy the peace of mind — and the companionship of a good dog.

Mei Mei is in 7th grade now, and Colton, with his blue “Service Dog” vest will accompany her to school every day. Like so many before her, Mei Mei has discovered humankind’s best friend — her “best friend in the world”.

We believe strongly that such best friends deserve the best. Elegant Roots Pets

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