What can service dogs do for diabetic kids? Lots! We recently had the opportunity to interview a doctor who both works with diabetic kids and trains the dogs who can help them. Dr. Dana Hardin is medical director and pediatric endocrinologist at Eli Lilly and Company. She trains hypoglycemia alert dogs under the guidance of the Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN) and is also leading research at Lilly to better understand why dogs are able to sense severe blood sugar events in their owners.

In this interview, Dr. Hardin explains how service dogs can help diabetic kids. They sense drops in the kids’ blood sugar and then sound the alarm by trying to “tell” the child and people around him or her that something is wrong. Some dogs do this naturally–if they’re really bonded with the child. Others can be trained to sound the alarm.

Here is a 10-minute interview with Dr. Hardin on youtube:

You can listen to the entire 18-minute interview here (Youtube only let us post 10 minutes!):
Service Dogs for Diabetic Kids Interview

In the interview, Dr. Hardin tells stories about how researchers learned that dogs can help diabetic kids. She explains just how helpful it is for diabetic kids to be alerted about their blood sugar levels. And she explains how these dogs are trained.

It all sounds like magic here at Bash And Lucy. But that’s what we love to write about–the magical connection between kids and dogs! Follow Michael’s Dog Blog for more fascinating dog facts for kids here:
Michael’s Dog Blog