Living With Diabetes For 62 Years: Client/Dog Team, Sandy and Hale

I have been living with diabetes for 62 years (I am sure glad D4D is not named Dogs and Dinosaurs 4 Diabetics). It is only since August 2016 Hale and I became partners.

Since that day, Hale brings a smile to my face everyday, and one to everyone he meets. Given a chance, he will always give you a big lick hello.

Hale is like a beacon of light.

That is, whether alerting on me, at 4:07am or 4:07pm. His bright eyes staring at me means I need to check my blood glucose.

And, he will always insist I issue the command “Let’s Check”.

So, not only does he get his reward. But, I too am rewarded with tighter blood glucose control, and with peace of mind knowing he’s watching after me.

After a five hour plane trip, the flight attendant told me, “if only all plane passengers were as well behaved as Hale, she might be without a job”. I can’t thank the Guide Dog Puppy Raisers, D4D Fosters, and the entire D4D team enough for making our life-saving partnership possible.

Recently, Hale and I were visiting a doctor for an annual exam. The doctor was interested in Hale and how he is helping me remain free of long term diabetes related complications.

It is the Dogs4Diabetics family that continues to mean so much to me.

While I might be volunteering my time with Scent Training, helping prepare our new facility, or, other D4D activities to say thank you for this gift… the D4D Team, Fosters, Volunteers, and others behind the scenes, simply are the stars. Put another way, it is my entire D4D family (of course including Hale) that are so important to me.

Story by Dogs4Diabetics Client/Dog Team, Sandy and Hale.

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Living With Diabetes, Dogs4Diabetics