Dogs for Diabetics: Training Dogs to Sniff Out Low Blood Sugar Levels

D4D provides specific standards for their dogs and responsibilities for the client. These standards are:

• Based on the principle that these dogs are trained to provide reliable and consistent support to a person suffering from a medical condition.
• Intended to promote safety and educate clients about the risks and rewards of using a Medical Assistance Dog.
• Meant to encourage sensible outlooks as to the abilities of a trained medical assistance dog placed with a trained client to provide reliable and consistent service.
• Proposed to ensure the understanding between Medical Assistance Dog organizations and their clients that the success of placement is dependent on skills developed and maintained by the dog and the client.
• Intended to deliver a foundation for resolve of disputes between D4D and our clients, should the placement of the assistance dog not succeed to the expectation of either party.

Also:

• D4D assures that the dog is satisfactorily mature, skilled in basic obedience, and socialized for use in public places with the client.
• D4D guarantees the client that the dog is trained to recognize the unique scent of hypoglycemia to trigger the appropriate alert behavior.
• D4D will retain evidence of the dog’s performance before placement with a client, sufficient to prove its abilities to perform the expected behavior under the direction of the client.