Information about Purchasing Diabetic Alert Dogs

                       I have heard so many horror stories about families paying at lease $ 20,000 for a diabetic alert dog and it not working. First their was Heaven Scent Paws which was sued and can never train or work with diabetic alert dogs again.Now their is another company out there doing the same thing. Both of these companies have preyed upon people’s desperation for a diabetic alert dog. I always have to warn people to be careful and ask a great deal of questions before agreeing to purchase a diabetic alert dog. I have learned a great deal about what can happen watching people who paid large sums of money who ended up with a dog that did not do the job they were trained for. I have to say that when you get a diabetic alert dog and do not continually work with the dog they will stop alerting. The diabetic alert dogs have a very delicate balance necessary to keep them working. There is so many things that can affect if the dog will alert or not for instance if you let the dog be in charge they will not alert, or if you let the dog do what it wants it will eventually decide it does not want to work anymore. Even with a well trained dog they do have off time periods which I have experienced with Duchess which I increased training and changed the routine we have in order to get her more motivated.

                      I have learned that if you let a diabetic alert dog get too much attention from people they can craze attention from strangers instead of focusing on you the handler. That is why I have a strict no pet policy because Duchess is defiantly one that would crave that attention. I do have to say that applies to some of the service dogs and not all of them. I have of things to do before you purchase a dog from a company. I know many families have trained their own service dogs but they spent a lot of time getting their dog fully trained if you have the time that is a great option. Please be aware that sometimes having a teenager with a service dog can be problematic there was a girl who got a dog from the trainer who trained Duchess who experience some major issues. The kids in the high school kicked and pulled the dogs tail and terrorized the service dog. So there is a need for the school to be willing to protect the dog and not ignore the situations like this girl’s school did. Dealing with schools and service animals can be difficult from the stories I have read so keep that in mind as well if you are planing on having the dog with your child in school.

1. Make sure they use a positive reinforcement training methods
2. Talk to families who have received the dogs from the company.
3. Look for reviews of the company.
4.Ask to be able to visit kennels before you purchase.
5. Spend time with trainers of the dogs and talk with several times before making a decision.
6 Ask what type of follow up support is provided because you will run into some issues. I had phone support for a year and ability to do refresher training at no cost for that year as well.
7. Ask what the policy is for dogs who do not work well or what options are available.