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Events
PAWS FOR DIABETICS TO HELP NETHERLANDS
Paws for Diabetics (PFD), has been in contact with Helphûn Fryslân, an assistance programme in the Netherlands, for the past 6 months, advising them on the implementation of their diabetic alert dog programme. Paws for Diabetics has been asked to travel to the Netherlands for several months, to continue monitoring their progress and assist with training and placements. PFD is very proud of the interest our programme has gained overseas and excited by the opportunity to have our representative taking such a high profile position in their organisation. We will be able to share our training and placement techniques and also learn from their experience, which will be highly beneficial for all involved. PFD has the opportunity to be recognised on the world stage and we are very excited about what this could mean for our organisation. We wish Helphûn Fryslân every success. To view their announcement, go to www.hhfrl.nl
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TV News Article
Photos Click here to see photos from Netherlands
Report On Helphûn Fryslân Well, this report has been a long time coming. I have no idea why, but after the first couple of weeks, less than half of the e-mails sent were ever received, and the same with incoming e-mail. The message I kept getting was that e-mail could not be delivered due to being unable to contact the recipient's server. My first impression of the Netherlands was how pretty it was, sprinkly rain and all, it was quite similar to Tasmania in fact, including temperatures a lot of the time. Both Anita and Martine came to the airport, having left before 3 a.m. to get there in time, but were late due to a bridge being stuck open, and their car couldn't swim the canal. It was about a three hour drive, and the roads were very good, their local councils must actually work all day. Everything was still green, although most trees were bare of course, but the grass doesn't go brown after frosts like we have here. They also brought Bartok (Hungarian Viszla pup) for the drive, and we stopped at a roadside cafe for some food, and to my amazement, Bartok came too. Over there, pet dogs go with owners in to shops and cafes without question, and here we are still fighting for our PFD dogs' legal rights! Once "home" I met some of the staff, and was shown my room, previously Anita's office on the ground floor. It had sliding glass doors out to a covered area we would call a patio here, and a view of a distant farmhouse, and trees, and a large paddock. Home was a place called Drachtstercompagnie, and the nearest town was Drachten, about a 20minute drive away. There are bike paths beside virtually every road, and I used to walk along the bike path running in front of the complex quite often. The next few days are a bit of a blur of sleeping off jetlag, and I had the company of one of the smooth collies, Pateo for a few days, but she was very attached to Anita and didn't stay long. Next room-mate was grandson of Pateo's called Lupo, and yes he did alert my on scent. After a few days though he stopped alerting, so we proved that the proven lines will work on scent for anyone, but also that as we know here, that it takes that special bond to solidify the alerting responses. One from those special lines, would doubtless be excellent if placed with someone, who was able to develop the bond. After Lupo came the little sheltie, Citra, who was the pup that they had tried placing, and although she did alert, the placement failed, which was the reason they asked me to go there in the first place. I feel that Citra was traumatised by that placement, and may never alert. After that I took a little rescue cross-breed that was supposed to be in whelp, so I could save Martine some sleepless nights by whelping the puppies for her. However, little Puk had a surprise for us and came into season instead. I guess vets make that same mistake the world over, as it happens here often also. At the same time as Puk arrived at the centre a cross breed with three pups had arrived, and those puppies were now approximately 8 weeks, and were very tiny, with very much a chihuahua appearance. I chose one of them, and while I managed to get her newspaper trained, sort of, that seemed to be the extent of her learning capacity, very sweet little thing, and would make an ideal pet for someone. Lastly, I had Boris a couple of days. He was a fully trained obedience everything, Golden Retriever, who was donated to the foundation. Boris will no doubt be invaluable in their breeding program, already tested clear of health problems associated with that breed. On that subject, I should also say that the smooth collies and shelties which Anita breeds, are now genetically clear of the usual problems associated with their breed, which is quite an achievement, and it is an excellent job Anita has done as a responsible breeder. Going back during these weeks, there was a lot of work and preparation being done, towards selecting the first candidate for the pilot program. A very brittle diabetic lady, Annie Raap, became the first to receive a dog, one of three whippet pups the Foundation had. After some illness and injury problems with the workers, the building and renovating work had been drastically set back, so instead of having Annie stay at the complex for placement, it was decided that I should go and stay with her instead. When Anita and Martine got these puppies they didn't think things would happen to delay everything so much, and consequently the pups were almost 5 months old by this time, and I admit to being seriously concerned about the chances of success. We duly delivered Shannon ( and me with a bag packed ) and did a T.V. interview at that time also. I hope the link works so you can all see it, and I have a translation of that as well. There were also a couple of newspaper articles, and Annie's 15 year old grandson Naim did the translation of one, and somehow I missed getting the other one translated. Anyway, the whippet breed has surprised me again. In no time at all, Shannon was totally devoted to Annie, ( and vice versa ) and I have to give full credit to Annie, as she followed my instructions to the letter. She was determined right from the start that failure was not an option, and most importantly, she BELIEVED in the dog. I was there for nearly two weeks. By that time, Shannon was house trained, unless no one saw her at the door and opened it, and that only happened about twice. She came when called, would sit and wait for her dinner, and sit and wait till told she could go inside after being out. But the best of all, is that she started alerting! A couple of tentative ones at first, with only gentle licking, but within days had progressed to a definite alert, and now nibbles at Annie's arm, and gets firmer till Annie responds. The bruises on Annie's forearm are testament to the fact Shannon is working properly, and already capable of being forceful enough to wake Annie, which in her case is essential. So, it is with much pleasure that I can announce that the very first official diabetes help dog ( as they are called ) in the Netherlands has been a total success. I must say, I am rather proud to have done the first placement, and to have succeeded, but I wouldn't like to do any more with older puppies, as it was very hard work, much more demanding than our usual placements done here. I also went back after about a week, and Shannon was still getting better and better. Unfortunately, my stay had to be cut a bit short of the original plan. Being without Phoenix, my diabetes control slipped away to sometimes dangerous proportions, and I was very ill on many occasions. My Doctor here was quite horrified at the readings stored in my glucometers memory, and am awaiting test results to see how much damage my system has sustained. However, I am confident that Helphun Fryslan are now able to continue the program successfully. I wish them every success in the future, and they know where we are if they need any assistance.
L. M. Jessep,
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