. I am still incredibly happy that I have allowed Duchess to alert not only to me but also others. I am still amazed she alerted to people who did not know they had diabetes. She is very good at her job and I feel like sharing her has never ever caused me any issues but in fact only makes her abilities even stronger. I work constantly to keep her as sharp as possible and if there is others around me who are off and I ignore her I find that creates more issues. The issues can be decreased alerts, more aggressive alerts because she feels I am ignoring her. I know Duchess is a dog who thrives on treats so ignoring her when she is alerting seems to have more negative consequences than just allowing her the freedom to do what she was trained for.
I can understand why some people do not allow their DAD's to alert to others because it can cause issues for their dogs. Just like diabetes things may vary from dog to dog so I am okay letting Duchess do what she does best and that is alerting. I know at "The Friends for Life Conference" I went to back in July I allowed her to alert and she became even sharper. I know she alerted to all my new diabetic friends while we were hanging out and she seemed happy to be earning more treats. She came back home even sharper than before the conference. So I have experienced the positive side of allowing this behavior.
I can say it enough of how proud I am of Duchess when she can handle alerting to more than one Diabetic and makes it look so easy. She loves challenges and faces obstacles better than I do personally. She loved my new friends I made at the conference and alerted before anyone knew they were going high or low. She gave them more time to make better decisions. I love that she does not seem fazed by so many smells at such a large conference. I know going to the conference I was really nervous about the outcome with so many diabetics at the conference but she did quite well. I think all DAD owners have to make the call if allowing them will work for the team.
I can understand why some people do not allow their DAD's to alert to others because it can cause issues for their dogs. Just like diabetes things may vary from dog to dog so I am okay letting Duchess do what she does best and that is alerting. I know at "The Friends for Life Conference" I went to back in July I allowed her to alert and she became even sharper. I know she alerted to all my new diabetic friends while we were hanging out and she seemed happy to be earning more treats. She came back home even sharper than before the conference. So I have experienced the positive side of allowing this behavior.
I can say it enough of how proud I am of Duchess when she can handle alerting to more than one Diabetic and makes it look so easy. She loves challenges and faces obstacles better than I do personally. She loved my new friends I made at the conference and alerted before anyone knew they were going high or low. She gave them more time to make better decisions. I love that she does not seem fazed by so many smells at such a large conference. I know going to the conference I was really nervous about the outcome with so many diabetics at the conference but she did quite well. I think all DAD owners have to make the call if allowing them will work for the team.
i think scott said it best, why would we NOT let our dogs alert quietly to others?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that what the dog was trained to do, alert for smelling "off" low blood sugar....
I noticed that most people's responses were they did not allow them to alert but I like to share her abilities any time I can because honestly she gets sharper by doing so. I am at a loss as to why they only let them alert to just one person. I know during training she alerted to other people as well.
DeleteThank you, Duchess, for all the alerts you gave me at FFL!!
ReplyDeleteI will let you know Duchess you said Thank you. She loved alerting for you at the conference.
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