If you are a type 1 diabetic or a type 2 diabetic with difficulty regulating your blood glucose levels, you don’t always realize when your blood glucose levels get dangerously high. Sometimes, people can tell, but not always. Unless you regularly check your levels or have some kind of monitoring system, you may not realize when you are in danger.

Some years ago, there was a television program where a blind man identified a murder suspect because of his body odor. The suspect was diabetic and the blind man said he could smell a sweet fruity smell.

I thought that was only on television and not in real life until I started hearing stories of people whose dogs notified them when their blood glucose levels rose to a certain point. One lady said her dog would begin nudging her over and over. At first, she had no idea why the dog was doing it until one day she checked her blood glucose and found it was high and she needed a shot of insulin which she kept on hand. After she injected herself with the insulin, her dog settled down. Her dog was not trained, but was somehow alert enough to let her know.

Another man had a German shepherd who would put his paw on the man if he was sitting and keep the paw on his legs. If he tried to stand up, the shepherd would push him back to sitting. He finally figured out it had to do with his blood glucose levels. The only time the shepherd acted that way was when his blood glucose levels got high for whatever reason.

Then, I was sent the link to a story about a dog named Magic. Magic was specifically trained to detect changes, even small changes in the blood glucose level of a person. Magic belongs to a woman named Claire, who has type 1 diabetes and was at the point where she needed to check her blood glucose levels every 20-30 minutes. She works as a pediatric diabetic nurse, but Magic is always at her side, even when at work.

According to Claire, Magic alerts her when her blood glucose levels rise and she needs to take her insulin. She credits Magic for saving her life over 3,000 times. Magic is never far from Claire’s side, whether at work or sleeping. She said her husband no longer has to constantly worry about his wife’s health since they got Magic.

If you, a member of your family or a friend, has type 1 diabetes and has to constantly monitor your blood glucose levels, you or they may want to give some serious thought to obtaining a diabetic trained dog. If you have the means, you can also help others by providing the funds necessary to train a diabetic dog for someone else. Your gift could help save someone’s life and given them and their family a peace of mind. Dogs really are a man’s or woman’s best friend and with someone like Claire, a friend that will never leave your side, talk back to you, but may save your life many times over.