The following story has been taken from an excerpt of PAW by Blackmores‘s new e-book, ‘Dogs of Australia – The Untold Stories of Our Canine Heroes‘
The Guardian
Molly here: I’m a little dog but I have a big responsibility. My humans, eight-year-old twins Hannah and Olivia, have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. If their blood sugar levels get too low or too high, they’ll become disoriented and could fall into a coma and die. It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.
My human, Adrienne chose me from my litter of Australian Silky Terrier pups. You might have heard that ‘Silkies’ like me can be snappy and aren’t a great choice for little kids. Well, I don’t know about that – I love my girls more than anything in the world.
I work hard to be the very best guardian that I can be for the girls, they’re family to me and I know I’m family to them. I was trained by Dogs on the Run, and an American diabetes alert dog university, they taught me to detect low blood sugar levels. I am very clever and was taught to detect and recognise the odour of ketones, which is when the girls’ blood sugar gets too high. Every year I take a Public Access Test to prove I know my stuff and can continue to go wherever Hannah and Olivia go.
Every night I do my rounds to make sure the twins are safely asleep. One night, I sniffed ketones in Hannah’s saliva while she slept. I woke Adrienne and let her know she needed to call an ambulance right away. When the paramedics arrived, I stayed right by Hannah’s side. They say I saved her life that night.
I’m the only dog in the ACT who goes to school every day. I sit right next to my girls in class and tap them with my paw or bump their legs if they’re having a ‘hypo,’ when their blood glucose level has dropped too low. If they’re too busy working to notice me, I go and get a teacher. I think school is great – although, just like Hannah and Olivia, I don’t like getting up in the morning!
The frustrating thing about my job is when people try to stop me from going somewhere with the twins. Courage comes in all shapes and sizes. I may be small but I have a huge heart, and I’ll never let my girls down.
Molly’s PAWesome Pick:
I recently discovered that many dogs experience anxiety and stress from everyday responsibilities, especially those as big as mine. Separation from their owner and external stressors like loud traffic or fireworks can also contribute to them feeling this way. Two nutrients that encourage healthy nervous system function and overall wellbeing are B vitamins and Tryptophan. Just one PAW Multi+Tryptophan Multivitamin Chew contains 25-50% of the Recommended Daily Intake of B group vitamins, and can help keep your dog’s nervous system in check and taste more like a treat than a vitamin!
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