News

Bear: A diabetic's life-saver

AUG 3, 2007

Margaret Knight, of Cooloongup, has a personal lifesaver, a four-legged one that will ensure she does not slip into a diabetic coma.

Margaret comes from a family pre-disposed to the Diabetes 1 gene.  She developed the condition seven years ago. 

The young mother of two children, aged four and six, now has a nine-week-old rottweiler named Bear to help her manage her condition.  Margaret qualified for the Diabetic Alert dog through Paws for Diabetics Incorporated based in New South Wales.

Bear can already tell when Margaret's blood sugar is low.  She said he was the first diabetic-alert rottweiler, a breed she loves and has become familiar with over the years.

"Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and can detect the smallest change in humans, whether they have been trained or not," she said.  "If my blood sugar is low Bear barks, bites my fingers and will not leave me alone - I know then that my sugar is low.

"He will be trained to open the fridge and take our sugar drinks.  He already saved my life once a few weeks ago."

Source: Weekend Courier, WA

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