Filly turned 6 months old last week! We have been in Philadelphia for about 1.5 months and she has done great. She has adjusted without a problem and has become quite a city dog. We have a little tiny fenced backyard (if you can even call it that) that she hangs out in while I eat dinner or study. We also spend a lot of time on our front porch, where she has learned to be off lead. It's not fenced in but she now knows she isn't allowed to put even a paw off of it (it's pretty adorable when she plays with a toy and it falls off the porch so she lays down and stares pitifully at it). This is incredibly important because we have a busy street right in front of our house, but I love letting her be off leash, so this was our compromise. Since it's still warm out, I bring out a few toys for her and my homework and we will sit there for hours. She loves to people watch since we have so many people and dogs walking by our house. She's also getting quite the following of people who come up to the porch to say "Hi" to her.
I have not been going low very frequently, so she has not had much practice alerting unfortunately. She has been doing well alerting to samples though. She also seems to be alerting to drops and rises in my blood sugar, even though she never gets rewarded for it. I consider a fast drop or fast rise when my bg changes 10% or more in 10 minutes. The difficulty with fast drops and rises is that alerts to them get repetitive. If a diabetic gives himself/herself insulin, he or she will drop quickly. But they just gave themselves insulin so they know that, they don't need a dog to tell them. The majority of the time they dose correctly, so they will plateau at a healthy number in range and don't need an alert to it. Some organizations only train so their dogs alert to rises and drops and not to exact levels. While it's helpful sometimes, it also results in many unneeded alerts. Additionally, it requires a LOT more testing because without a CGM you can't tell a drop or rise is happening by just one finger prick, it requires you to recheck in 10 minutes every time the dog alerts in order to know if it's going up or down and by how much.
All this is to say, that Filly is alerting to rises and drops which is great, but she still isn't getting rewarded for them. Another reason that she isn't getting rewarded for them is because I personally do not reward my dogs unless I can verify the alert - otherwise I will get false alerts. But to verify a fast rise or drop, I have to wait 10 minutes to recheck and see if it changed significantly. While I think my dogs are brilliant, they are still dogs and if I reward 10 minutes after an alert, they won't know what they are being rewarded for. I'm not sure if she will stop alerting to rises and drops if she continues to not be rewarded, or if she always will. If she always alerts to them it's not the end of the world as it is helpful. But she will need to be placed with someone who is able to check their bg very frequently and wants a dog that alerts to these things rather than just to 80 and below or 180 and above. Some people do want to know about fast rises and drops so it will just be a matter of finding the right person!
Her alerting right now is to initially paw me, then to hold her bringsel and paw the air. We are working towards her alerting by holding the bringsel and pawing my leg rather than the air because sometimes she alerts but I can't tell because she's behind me pawing the air and I can't feel or see her. But she's doing well with holding the bringsel so I think she will get it. Sidenote, she is the most adorable thing ever when she alerts holding the bringsel.
At 6 months this Crouton loves: morning snuggles, people rubbing her belly, doing zoomies around the house, throwing tennis balls in the air and pouncing on them, and snuggling (this is new!). Crouton does not love: pouring rain, boots, and having her teeth brushed.
I have not been going low very frequently, so she has not had much practice alerting unfortunately. She has been doing well alerting to samples though. She also seems to be alerting to drops and rises in my blood sugar, even though she never gets rewarded for it. I consider a fast drop or fast rise when my bg changes 10% or more in 10 minutes. The difficulty with fast drops and rises is that alerts to them get repetitive. If a diabetic gives himself/herself insulin, he or she will drop quickly. But they just gave themselves insulin so they know that, they don't need a dog to tell them. The majority of the time they dose correctly, so they will plateau at a healthy number in range and don't need an alert to it. Some organizations only train so their dogs alert to rises and drops and not to exact levels. While it's helpful sometimes, it also results in many unneeded alerts. Additionally, it requires a LOT more testing because without a CGM you can't tell a drop or rise is happening by just one finger prick, it requires you to recheck in 10 minutes every time the dog alerts in order to know if it's going up or down and by how much.
All this is to say, that Filly is alerting to rises and drops which is great, but she still isn't getting rewarded for them. Another reason that she isn't getting rewarded for them is because I personally do not reward my dogs unless I can verify the alert - otherwise I will get false alerts. But to verify a fast rise or drop, I have to wait 10 minutes to recheck and see if it changed significantly. While I think my dogs are brilliant, they are still dogs and if I reward 10 minutes after an alert, they won't know what they are being rewarded for. I'm not sure if she will stop alerting to rises and drops if she continues to not be rewarded, or if she always will. If she always alerts to them it's not the end of the world as it is helpful. But she will need to be placed with someone who is able to check their bg very frequently and wants a dog that alerts to these things rather than just to 80 and below or 180 and above. Some people do want to know about fast rises and drops so it will just be a matter of finding the right person!
Her alerting right now is to initially paw me, then to hold her bringsel and paw the air. We are working towards her alerting by holding the bringsel and pawing my leg rather than the air because sometimes she alerts but I can't tell because she's behind me pawing the air and I can't feel or see her. But she's doing well with holding the bringsel so I think she will get it. Sidenote, she is the most adorable thing ever when she alerts holding the bringsel.
At 6 months this Crouton loves: morning snuggles, people rubbing her belly, doing zoomies around the house, throwing tennis balls in the air and pouncing on them, and snuggling (this is new!). Crouton does not love: pouring rain, boots, and having her teeth brushed.
