Dogs Can Also Detect Diabetes

In several articles, we talk about animals being able to detect diseases such as cancer. Today, we’ll talk about a new discovery. Dogs can detect diabetes too.

Puppies increasingly play the role of assistance. From the moment guide dogs were created, the abilities that our canine friends have became known. There, their full potential to use it for our benefit was discovered.

What exactly is diabetes?

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder caused by an excess of sugar in the blood. This disorder can affect, over time, other organs of the body. In the kidneys, eyesight or blood vessels, it can even cause heart disease.

The main symptoms are excessive urination, increased appetite, increased thirst and apparent weight loss. A rise in the level of sugar can even lead to death. Therefore, determining this disease in time could save his life.

This is where our friends, the dogs, play an important role. The fact that they can detect diabetes is a great skill.

What Do Dogs Detect About Diabetes?

As with cancer, it is believed that your detailed olfactory system can play an important role in detection. In this case, it is not known if it is exactly the odor or something else that makes the dog determine that its owner is going to have a high sugar level.

What really proved was the degree of success achieved by these animals. This degree of accuracy is around 98%, a figure that was estimated to be very high, which gives us confidence that an assistance dog of this type can help us enormously.

Training assistance dogs to help people with diabetes 

In Spain, 14 dogs have been trained for this purpose, few compared to other categories. However, the good results could make it possible that, in the future, there will be more of these dogs.

The training lasts for approximately one year. These dogs are trained not only to detect increases in sugar levels, but also decreases in those levels. The latter are the first to be taught to them, for two reasons: they are harder to detect and they are more dangerous for the owner.

Dogs are genetically examined to see if they have the necessary skills for this job, although it has been concluded that the best dogs for this activity are the Jack Terrier breed. But any pet could do if it has the necessary skills. However, it is recommended that no dogs be trained, and that the interested person seek advice from a training center.

These dogs are trained not to bark for any reason unrelated to the owner’s illness, that is, a dog trained to detect diabetes will only bark when it senses that its owner is going to have a rise or fall in glucose level.

This will be accomplished in enough time for the owner to measure his blood glucose level. That way, he will know if there is a rise or fall in glucose, and then act.

Cini, one of the dogs trained to detect diabetes

Cini, a dog, belongs to a 19-year-old girl named Lídia, who has suffered from diabetes since she was 5 years old. It was a very heavy burden to adjust to this life, with an unpleasant companion who would make her blood glucose rises and falls forever.

At first, she didn’t understand what to do or how to do anything and her life was turning into hell. Little by little, she got used to living with it, and then came Cini, her lifeguard and faithful friend.

In Spain, Cini was the first female dog to be trained for this purpose. It only barks in case there is no possibility of error, whenever it barks it is because something happens.

According to Lídia, Cini is her life insurance and is what brings her peace of mind. Before, she was afraid to be alone at home, and even she had difficulty sleeping because of the fear that something would happen to her and not having time to act. Those fears have disappeared since Cini came into her life.

Congratulations to these animals, willing to be selfless and loyal, in exchange for nothing, for helping those who need it most!