One of my dear friends is a rather newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic, and wants to train her young dog to let her know when her blood glucose is too high (dogs do this by smelling the person's breath). She also has an anxiety disorder which would mean an emotional support animal, but she'd rather have a bona fide *service animal* that deals with the diabetes considerations.

She wants to do this legally and officially, but there are so many websites that are only too happy to sell you a package deal that will make your dog a "service dog", and she is suspicious.

Does anyone know of a reputable place for her to get her dog, once trained, certified as a service dog for her blood glucose problem?

She's worried about buying scam paperwork because she is incapable of telling whether her own dog, that she works with every day, is properly trained and doing its job?

If your friend really can train this dog to work as a service dog, I would bet that she could contact an organization that trains medical alert dogs, take the dog in to get it tested to make sure it is working correctly, and have them write a letter on their official letterhead.

Is she on insulin? Really then the fear is not of going too high, it is of dropping too low. Too high has long-term effects for sure, but if she is testing regularly and controlling her diet, she shouldn't need to worry about highs that much.

The big fear is if she taking insulin - then going too low is very much a possibility and can be deadly.

I can't send a link, because it is behind a login and PW, but your friend has been given incorrect info.

A Diabetic Alert Dog (known as a DAD) doesn't need to smell the breath of a person, there is a lot more scent coming that just breath. Additionally, unless your friend is insulin dependent, the dog won't really help a lot.

Barb is correct, we do not have any registry of service animals in the US.

And self-teaching the dog is legal. There does not have to be a certificate from a recognized service dog training facility.

This is part of the problem that we as LLs face -- how to separate the scams from the legitimate!