CORPUS CHRISTI – It’s a *tail* as old as time. Dog is man’s best friend.
However, for seven-year-old J.D. Warren, his chocolate lab Dex is his protector.
"He’s going to alert me to tell me if my sugar is high or low," Warren said.
Dex was a Christmas present for the young boy shortly after he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes last year, and it was only fitting to name the pooch after the Dexcom glucose monitor J.D. wears on his arm.
Over the last several months, the lab has completed extensive service dog training at Master Trainer in Corpus Christi.
His keen sense of smell often picks up fluctuations in J.D.’s blood sugar levels long before high-tech monitors do.
J.D. was once playing in a baseball game when Dex alerted J.D.’s mother of the drop in blood sugar from nearly 100 yards away.
"So the technology he’s wearing hadn’t caught up to the low that was coming on, and the dog caught it before the technology did. So having a diabetic alert dog is life saving," Tracy Warren said.
Dex and J.D. will continue growing and training together, and the dog will eventually be able to retrieve medical supplies and snacks when J.D. is experiencing a diabetic episode.
As the saying goes, "two are better than one." This partnership is *paw-sitive* to last a lifetime.
