More Honored, Humbled, and Awed…. Bravo is nominated for 2010 AKC ACE Award

I received a letter a few weeks ago informing me that Bravo had been nominated for the 2010 AKC ACE Award. The following is a overview of that award as seen on the AKC website.

“Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE)

In 1999, The American Kennel Club took action to express its time-honored respect for the extraordinary canine-human bond, as well as its appreciation for the innumerable ways in which dogs meaningfully contribute to our lives. That initiative gave rise to The AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE), which celebrated its first presentation year in 2000.

To qualify, the dog is required to be AKC registered or an AKC recognized breed, and have performed some exemplary act, whether large or seemingly small, that has significantly benefited a community or individual. One award will be given every year in each of the following five categories: Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Therapy, Service, and Exemplary Companion Dog. When appropriate, dogs earning honorable mention will be selected.

Each of the five honorees will receive a cash award of $1000 and an engraved sterling-silver collar medallion to be presented at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. Their names will be engraved on a plaque that hangs permanently in The American Kennel Club Library in New York City. Dogs receiving honorable mention will be awarded an engraved bronze medallion.” (http://www.akc.org/news/ace/index.cfm)

With the letter came an award certificate and more personal letter.  As most of you know, I am not often speechless, but lately that seems to be a theme.  No matter whether Bravo wins…being nominated is a humbling honor.

The following is the letter that was submitted to the AKC.  Virginia Erickson submitted the letter but the author is unknown.

“Bravo is a 4-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever who belongs to KC Owens of SLC, UT. Bravo is a true ambassador to the Chesapeake Retriever Breed. He is active in AKC Hunt Tests, Agility, Obedience, Rally, Dock Jumping, and he is a Therapy Dog with Intermountain Therapy Animals.

Last year Bravo started alerting his owner to dangerous hypoglycemia and now works as her service dog. No matter what this dog is doing or where he is at, he stops and tells her that her blood sugar is dropping. He tends to be about 15 to 30 minutes ahead of her blood glucose meter.

KC says: “You know I have had some amazing dogs over the years. I have titled dogs in many venues, but no award I have ever received matches the feelings I have when this dog wakes me up in the middle of the night to tell me my blood sugar is low. It is a gift, a gift from him to me! It has brought me to my knees knowing how much these alerts make a difference in allowing me to keep a more regular life. In my humble opinion, Bravo is nothing short of an angel! You hear that dogs are mans best friend……Bravo is more than that he is my very heartbeat”
KC herself has given so much to the dog world. She is an AKC judge, she is on the board of directors for at least 3 dog clubs, she helps teach classes for therapy dogs, and in general is willing to help out anyone who needs it.

I hope you consider this dog for the 2010 ACE Award for service dog. The bond between this team is incredible…I swear he never takes his eyes off of her.
Thank You!”

I am not anyone special nor in many ways is Bravo…we make a good team I agree but I can name many people and dogs who do far more that either of us do.  I know in my heart that the bond between the two of us is a very special one and should be treated as such but I have been fortunate enough to witness that same bond in many dogs and owners on many different levels. 

There is an old saying from an unknown author that says “My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am”. How true is that………our dogs think we are perfect in every way.  I know most of them wish we would give them more cookies, but even when we don’t they still love us with everything they have! George Eliot stated it this way, “We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults.  Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.”

Well You don’t See This Every Day

 

 

Bravo is now officially Fetch Express Bravo Zula SH RN NJ!  Hopefully, this year we will add CD and AJ.  I could dream and hope for QAA but I don’t see that happening this year, but it is fun to dream. 

I have said this before but none of these ribbons or titles hold a candle to when he alerts for a low blood sugar!  The thing is that it is only because of that ability that I am able to compete at these other venues.  I love being outside, I love Hunt Tests and Field Trials, I love hunting, I love Splash Dogs and Dock Jumping, I love working with Intermountain Therapy Animals, and I love doing agility…………but I could do none of that without Bravo.  Not just because it takes a dog to do these things, but because he allows me to have a more full life because of his alerts!  There was a time not to long ago when I thought I was going to have to give all of those things up because of the diabetes and the low blood sugars!  I have cut back immensely but because of that ability to alert to low blood sugars I can now at least compete on a smaller scale!  I still try to make sure someone is with me when I travel out of town or go on long trips but my freedom to do what I want is important to me. 

 

So is this dog!  From the look of it  he feels the same way!

(this picture by John Hafner)

(this picture by John Hafner)

I AM HONORED AND HUMBLED!

Number 4 of 5 for AKC Senior Hunter Title

 

This picture was taken May 16 near Springfield ID.  He run a good test……I little ugly on the 2nd series but still gave me good effort!

Long Time No See!

So sorry folks!  I have been up to my ears for the last little bit.  It seems that all fronts of my life have been on overload lately!

I promise to catch you all up very soon as I get things wrote up.  There has been many exciting positive things occurring lately!  Some of which I don’t even have words for yet!

Max (the lil choc pup) gave her first alert!  She also has had alert 2, 3, and 4!   The most exciting for me is that one of the alerts was with her owners!  They were a little unsure of what they were seeing but sure enough Max was telling that Shannon was low!  I have started teaching Max hold and fetch, and working on more advanced obedience stuff.  She is still very young but I am very pleased with what I am seeing!

Bravo and Radar have had numerous alerts over the last month.  Bravo has alerted a couple of times on drops that were occurring while I was driving.   Once when Virginia E. and I were driving to Pocatello, ID to a AKC Hunt Test.  B had been sleeping in the back seat of the truck.  All of the sudden, he is trying to wedge his way into the front seat.  He kept shouldering up on the console between me and Virginia.  Virginia exclaimed, “gee, he has been so good up till now…what is going on?”  I told her I was dropping and he was telling me.  I treated the low, he laid with his head on the console for about 10 minutes watching me.  When he was sure I was okay, he returned to his spot in the back, curled up in a ball, and went back to sleep!   He did the same basic thing when a friend came into town to judge an AKC Hunt test memorial day weekend.  We were heading to Kennecott Copper Mine for some site seeing when Bravo again alerted to my blood sugar dropping! As soon as I treated the low……..he observed me for a bit, then curled up and went back to sleep.  Then there was the day that my friend Kim came over.  She is also diabetic.  I was in the middle of a low when she got there.  I was trying to treat it but it was one of those lows that won’t respond to regular methods of treatment.  Since he had told me I was low….he decided to go tell her.  All of the sudden his body language changes and he alerts her and then comes and tells me that she is low too!!! Poor B about wore himself out that night between the 2 of us!  One evening in early May I went to a graduation party for a friend who just got her doctorate.  Many of the folks that were there work in the diabetes field.  We all met at a nice restaurant in downtown SLC.  My friend Kim was with me as well.  Bravo was laying at my feet under the table, quietly snoozing.  I saw him lift his head and sniff the air.  He gets up and alerts Kim to a low.  He then lays back down.  The next thing I know his head is in my lap alerting me to a low.  It was another one of those lows that doesn’t respond to food…so I finally took a shot of glucagon.  I have said it before….I LOVE THIS DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Radar one morning a couple of weeks ago was dinking around the front room.  I had let Bravo and Raven outside.  Radar had been out earlier so I just let him hang out with me.  I was fooling around on the computer.  All of the sudden he jumps up on the back on my chair.  I pushed him off and he jumps up again.  Again I told him to get down!  He jumps back up a third time and starts pawing at the top of my head.  I reached down to grab me meter and while I am trying to check my sugar, he is trying to get his nose in my ear and at the same time pawing at my head.  Sure enough..I was 62!  Radar is still young…just turned 2.  He has come A LONG WAYS, but still has more to learn.  The jury is still out as to whether he will ever be a service dog, but I love his tenaciousness!!!!  Not much shuts this lil guy down!  He is persistant and focused about the alerts!  I am working on him to not keep re alerting after I have treated the low….but as with all things it takes time!

More to come………………………

Busy Busy Busy

It has been very busy the last couple of weeks.  Work stuff, Hunt Tests, house stuff, company….and brutal lows.  When I get done with all the things I have to do it seems I am so tired that all I want to do is fall in bed.

However some good things have happened….Bravo got 2 more ribbons toward his Senior Hunter (Thanks to Robert for running him while I judged Master.),  Radar turned 2 today, and Max has now alerted twice to low blood sugars.

Six of the last 14 days have been low days.  I feel like a mack truck has parked on top of me.  The dogs are earning their keep!

I know this is short but I just wanted you all to know I haven’t forgotten you!

A Miracle!

This past week has been chaotic at best.  The week started with prep for a Wild Game Feast.  I shopped, looked at recipes, and cooked for 3.5 days. The dinner was Wednesday night and we had about 50 people there.  Everyone left very sated from all the wonderful elk, deer, trout, pheasant, and side dishes! 

The day of the dinner I couldn't keep my BG up.  It got a little confusing when I couldn’t tell the difference between Bravo alerting for BG and wanting more meat scraps! 

Thursday we had a board meeting and all day my BG went up and It down…more of a typical roller coaster day.

Yesterday was a miracle!  Why????  My BG stayed in between 80 and 180 ALL DAY and I got to eat!  About 10 days ago I received a loaner DexCom Seven from Cottonwood Endocrinology.  Dex is a continuous blood glucose monitor. I test on average of 10 to 15 times a day with my meter.  Dex tests every 5 minutes.  I saw a lot of things that I was missing or ideas were confirmed by the data I was receiving.  Dex is an amazing little creature.  It has some pitfalls but the feedback I have been getting is incredible!

This is the 2nd time I have been on a CBGM (continuous blood glucose monitor) in the last 2 months.  The first time I couldn’t see the results. Dex has a little screen that gives data immediately. My diabetic educator told me when you are on one …IT IS TIME TO TEST THEORIES AND TRY NEW THINGS.  I did and yesterday I think we stumbled on something that works.

I have NASTY spikes after eating.  It doesn’t matter if I eat 15 carbs or 60 carbs my BG spikes to 200 or better.  There have been days I could think about food and it would spike.  It seems I have zero 1st phase insulin and limited 2nd phase insulin.  My insulin has never matched my food, so I would get wild swing.  I have tried everything under the sun! Low carb, not eating, dual waves, supplements, drugs, and the list goes on.  Yesterday I discovered I feature on my Animas Ping pump that I think may be part of the miracle I have been looking for.  It is the temporary basal feature.  Basal insulin is the insulin in our bodies that constantly there.  It kind of just ekes out to keep BG levels semi steady.  Basal rates are different for everyone. 

Yesterday I decided to try this feature out.  As I got ready to eat lunch I turned my basal rates up by 30 percent for 3 hours then I bolused for the carbs I was going to eat.  At 2 hours I was at 125, at 3 I was at 120.  Then I turned the basal down 30% for 2.5 hours.  At 6 hours after eating I was at 100 and at 8 hours after eating I was at 100.   It was STEADY!!!!!  I ate again and the same thing happened.  I awoke this am to a BG reading of 100!!!

I know to those of you who don’t have diabetes I am speaking a foreign language, but trust me when I say THIS IS A MIRACLE for me.  The last time my BG was this steady was when I was in the the hospital for 2 weeks not eating at all!  Before that I am betting it has been close to 10 years!  I don’t remember the last time I woke up with a BG that low. 

Thank you Lord!!!!!!!!!!!  THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

 

P.S.  Lord, if it isn’t asking to much can I have another miracle with these lows I have been having?????  Don’t want to be greedy, but it sure would be nice to have some more of my life back that I have gave up!

Radar’s Alert

 

Monday was a rough day!  It started off harmless enough.  I went and did a therapy dog visit at Aspen Ridge Rehab Hospital. Then I went and ate lunch with a friend.

Then my blood glucose decided to go awry. For 6 hours I was all over the map. Up and down…it was like roller coaster ride that I couldn’t get off of.  To be honest, I don’t remember much of the evening.  Lows are like wading in mud up to your waist.  You try to push on through to get to the other side but sometimes it is easier to just sit and sink!  I know that both Bravo and Radar had a busy evening.  If I am home Radar generally alerts first.  I think that it is because he is most often laying on my lap or on the arm of chair, while Bravo is on floor at feet or laying on the couch. (Yes my dogs are allowed on the furniture….so if you don't like dog hair it probably isn't a good idea to come to my house.) 

Because Radar is sort of new to all this, I am still learning his patterns of alerting and still building a trust with him.  For those of you that know Radar, you know that he has a nickname that he lives up to. For those of you that don’t know Radar…lets just say when he is good, he is absolutely wonderful but when he is bad………HE IS HORRID!  Radar does nothing in moderation!

Anyhow I am sitting in my chair thinking about taking a nap…the phone rings and it is Kim, my diabetic educator.  I remember talking to her at first then my memory gets real fuzzy.  The rest of this is from her. “You was telling Radar to stop it and go lay down. When I ask you what he was doing, you replied he is smacking me in the head with his paw.  I ask what Bravo was doing you said laying on couch looking at me.  You kept getting after Radar telling him to leave you alone. I ask if you had checked your sugar, you told me it was 128 about a half hour ago. I told you to check again. You kept growling at Radar to stop it.  When ask again what Radar was doing you told me he was standing on your shoulder licking your ear, pawing your head and that Bravo had his head in your lap and was staring at you.  I finally got you to check and you had dropped to 39.”

Radar is tenacious!  When he decides he is really going after something NOTHING will stop him.  It is like the more you tell him no, the more he says “Well, WATCH THIS”!

I got Radar with no real specific purpose in mind.  He was going to be my ‘truck dog”.  I wanted a little dog but I needed one that could hang with my big dogs.  Nothing fazes him, except he doesn’t like my brother stomping his feet at him.  Radar retrieves birds, jumps off the dock (SOMETIMES when water isn’t to cold), plays at agility, does stupid pet tricks, and will do about anything I ask him to do…but he does everything with a big dog attitude.  I tell people that he is a 18 pound, 15 inch tall Chesapeake Bay retriever. He is really a Parson Russell Terrier.  What a funny little dog!  When I first got him, he snuggled right into me.  Then we went to go get a harness for him and he tried to eat me in the middle of Petco.  Radar has always been at the extremes.  He does nothing halfway.

No matter how he handles things I am just glad he is as tenacious as he is about alerting.  A friend once told me “A stubborn person needs a stubborn dog!”  Hmmmm, I guess I deserved that remark!