Boy with Juvenile Diabetes Gets Help from Dog

Diabetes-alert dogs are increasingly becoming popular these days, as more and more patients rely on man’s best friend to help them avoid the perils of diabetes. Seth Waite, a young boy from Mesa who has juvenile diabetes, is among the patients of Dr. Joel Hahnke, of Scottsdale, Arizona.

What makes Seth stand out from everyone else diagnosed with the same medical condition is that he has his very own Service dog named Rex.

This 16-week old pup’s main job is to warn his owner if there are glucose level fluctuations. This is especially helpful, and even life-saving, for young kids like Seth, who at night can render themselves very susceptible to possible glucose level fluctuations, without parents knowing it.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) community manager in Phoenix, AZ., Sara Sparman, says there has been a lot of inquiries about these diabetes-alert dogs, and numerous people are very interested, however, price seems to be a huge factor to consider.

Getting one such dog, along with basic and specialized trainings could easily cost a whopping $8,000.

Luckily for Seth, he was able to raise the amount with the help of fundraising events in his community and school, with full support from family and friends.

According to Sparman, these diabetes-alert dogs are found to be extremely helpful when the child or patient is asleep, and could certainly compliment the use of blood-glucose monitors.

There are hi-tech gizmos available, such as the one that Seth has, but the problem arises when kids are asleep and they basically just sleep through even with alarms going off.