A diabetic alert dog warned her owner that her blood sugars were soaring right in the middle of a Belfast gig attended by thousands.
Despite the distractions from masses of people and heady scents such as beer, burgers and perfume, Golden Retriever Echo, made sure her owner Wendy Smith was safe at Belsonic.
She said: “I’d never taken Echo to a gig as big as that before. She’s been to the SSE Arena and to the Waterfront in Belfast, but this time myself and my husband Colin were at Belsonic to see Lionel Ritchie and the Human League.
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“Echo comes everywhere with me, whether it’s at work or shopping or socialising. I have Type 1 diabetes and she's trained to let me know if my blood sugars are going high or low. She scents it out and that gives me time to check my bloods and deal with the problem without getting sick.
“We were right in the middle of the Human League on June 4 when she started alerting. She got very agitated and some ladies who were near us asked if she was OK. I told them I needed to check my blood sugars.”
Wendy, 55, from East Belfast, carried out a pin prick blood test on her finger and discovered her blood sugar levels were very high.
Wendy explained: “I was surprised because usually my sugars go low but Echo is trained to alert me if they are high or low and she keeps alerting me until they come into a suitable range. So on the night of Belsonic it took a little time and she stayed by my side. Then as soon as the levels stabilised she lay down and went to sleep.”
Echo, who is eight, has known Wendy since the age of eight weeks, having been in the puppy care of her parents Joe and Sue McMullan, ahead of going for training as a diabetic alert dog. She qualified with Hypo Hounds and has been by Wendy’s side ever since.
She said: “I have an insulin pump and a central pump that monitors my blood sugars which in theory sends a message to my insulin pump if my blood sugars are dropping or going high but Echo’s nose beats the alarm on that by about 15 minutes which means I can act earlier.
“I used to be aware of when I was going into a high or low but for some reason my hyper awareness started to leave me so now I don’t get any signs or symptoms. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I collapsed and he had to take me to A&E but I haven’t had problem since I’ve had Ecco.
"Today I have no warning signs except Echo. For a while I’d have been talking to somebody or driving when my blood sugars drop, I’d find myself somewhere I shouldn’t be and have no memory of getting there, so it was becoming dangerous.
“But Echo comes everywhere with me and that danger is all but gone now.
"She gets a sense exam which is all about keeping making sure she’s still alerting and the public access exam every year. I have to keep a diary of every time she alerts or misses because sometimes she does miss, you know, especially in that really hot weather.
“In order to scent out properly, a dog’s nose needs to be really wet and if their airways and everything else are all dry thanks to the weather, it can hinder their sense of smell.
“So with all those other people around as well, at the gig that day there were chip and burger vans, sausage butties and beer all on that platform where we were sitting. Then there were perfumes, strangers, people dressed in all sorts and a couple of policemen standing around everybody but Echo still just focused on me.”
“This time at Belsonic listening to the Human League and Echo got up on her feet and became really agitated and she wouldn’t lie back down. At the time I was talking to two ladies who asked me what was wrong with my dog. I explained that she was probably alerting me to my blood sugar levels and I checked my blood sugar and they were really high.
“Echo can fetch my monitor which is fully portable. I keep it in my handbag. It’s just a little, a little strip that you put a spot of blood onto and it gives you a reading. But Echo doesn’t relax until my levels are within a certain range so it can be very tiring for her if that takes time.
“After she alerted me during the Human League and everything went back to normal she conked out - but if my sugars had spiked again she would have woken and alerted.
"Her demeanour changes when my blood changes. She will push me with her nose and if I ignore that, she gets agitated and she’ll paw me and bark.
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“She is tested every year at a scent exam which is all about making sure she’s still alert and she also has her public access exam every year because she comes literally everywhere with me from work to socialising and shopping.
“Echo can fetch my monitor which is fully portable. I keep it in my handbag. It’s just a little, a little strip that you put a spot of blood onto and it gives you a reading. But Echo doesn’t relax until my levels are within a certain range so it can be very tiring for her if that takes time.
“After she alerted me during the Human League and everything went back to normal she conked out - but if my sugars had spiked again she would have woken and alerted.
"She is a wonderful dog, a massive part of our family and life just wouldn't be the same without her. She takes away any worries about my condition because she helps me handle it in time.
"Echo and her nose are the most priceless parts of our family life. She's getting older but for now we're living best life side by side."
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