Major Goes Hiking

Having diabetes sucks. Being a kid with type 1 diabetes is even worse. Not having a pump, and still doing injections probably sucks even more. There are no impromptu runs to Baskin Robbins, no cake at a child's birthday party, the general highs and lows that come from everyday life, that on top of everything else, now play havoc with your blood sugar levels.

But as a kid, having a dog is awesome! And having a well trained dog, that loves to do some of your favorite activities is better. And if that same dog get's to sleep in your bed, well then, that's the best!

One of the great things our family loves to do (my daughter and I especially) is go hiking, and our favorite place to go is the Eaton Canyon Falls. It can be anywhere from a 1.5 mile to 4 mile trek depending on where you park, but my daughter is always game for it. So we took Major, our in training diabetic alert dog (DAD for short) on his first hike back to the falls.



The weather was gorgeous, so we loaded up the backpack with water, cheesesticks, and the trusty Canon S90, diabetic kit and supplies, we strapped a backpack on Major (he carries in his own water, dish, poop bags, & tennis ball) and away we went. There was hardly anyone there, which is so different from what we are used to there. Major loved plowing through the stream with Stella. Just look at her smile!

This is my first experience with a Lab. I've never really had a dog that loved the water (Roxy "tolerates" the stream) so we had a blast! Major was very happy to walk through the stream, and at 1 point we had him fetching tennis balls in the pool at the face of the falls!

On our way back down from the falls, Major gave me an alert. He jumped up on me and put his 2 wet and muddy front paws square on my chest. Then he refused to sit, down, or stay. Very out of character for Major, he is extremely well behaved, so this is a pretty typical alert for him. This one did feel a little different though.  Stella seemed fine, and without Major alerting, I never would have checked her at this point.

So, we stopped, pulled out the testing kit, and tested. The result? 110. A perfect #. But Major still wasn't letting go, & still wasn't going into a down stay. I didn't acknowledge Major because the # wasn't a low, but I decided I would check again in 10 minutes. We hiked a little further, and I checked again. This time she was at 90. Dropping pretty quick. So I treated Stella as if she had a low, giving her some Smartees (our treatment of choice), as we still had a ways to hike. We then got to the car about 15 minutes later, and I checked again. She dropped to 64. A great low for Major, and he gave me a great head start on treating my daughter during an exercise activity in a fairly remote location. This type of reinforcement of his abilities, even while he is out playing in the water, makes me more comfortable knowing there is one more way my daughter is being watched. Good boy Major!

For more info on Major, or to donate, go here: A Guardian Angel for Stella

For more info on DAD's, or applying for your own: Guardian Angel Diabetic Alert Dogs