Diabetes Alert Dog for Dayla

Please help Dayla get a lifesaving service dog.

Donations accepted on this site or at the 
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Lower Buck
Penn's Square
404 Middletown Blvd., Suite 308
Langhorne, PA 19047
*Please make checks payable to "UUFLB", and note "Buddy" in the memo line.

Dayla's Message
Hi, my name is Dayla. I’m 11 and life has been kind of hard lately. I was diagnosed with Diabetes (Type 1 Diabetes-insulin dependent) and my dad died. I know there are a lot of people out there who need help, but I ask you to help me get Buddy (Diabetes Alert Dog – DAD). We really can’t afford Buddy because we now only have my mom working. Buddy’s is a wonderful, smart and cute dog. He will help me be healthier, take away my worries, play with me and protect me. 


-Buddy and Dayla bonding-

I wish diabetes would just go away, but it won’t, EVER. It is annoying and painful. I have to test a million times a day and my fingers hurt. Sometimes I can’t do anything because my sugars are too high or too low and I have to get them in control. When my blood sugar goes low I feel horrible! I get shaky, dizzy, I have no energy and I can’t focus. I can’t run or do anything. I usually end up lying on the floor. Trained dogs can warn me when I am going low so I don’t have to feel that way again. That’s why I want Buddy. When I go low in the night, my mom has to keep testing me and waking me up to make sure I don’t go into a coma. My mom has to keep feeding me. I get really tired when we have a low night. It is hard to focus on school or play sports the next day.


-Dayla loves playing on her co-ed soccer team-

I am trying to learn how to control my Diabetes, but my mom worries so much. I can’t feel when my blood sugar is high. The hospital told my mother that going too high or too low can make me pass out or die. It is hard to think about dying. That will never happen with Buddy around. He is being trained to warn us and that means I don’t have to worry as much. Most of the time I try not to think about Diabetes, but it scares me. I don’t like my mom worrying. Buddy will be, as my mom says, “Our extra safety net”. 



-Buddy-

One good side to having Diabetes is maybe getting Buddy! Buddy is so cute, I love him and he will be helpful. Buddy is being trained to warn and protect me from dying from Diabetes. Buddy is being trained to go everywhere with me. If I am somewhere and I am having trouble, Buddy will get an adult. Buddy will protect me, help me be healthier, take away my worries, and play with me.


-Vest practice-

When I go to visit Buddy I feel happy. Nothing in the world is better than Buddy, except maybe a million dollars so I could buy a whole bunch of Buddys. Buddy is the best thing that could happen to me.


-Learning Dayla's Scent-

Please donate money and help us get Buddy. He is awesome. I know people that don’t control their diabetes can lose their toes, eyesight, and die. I don’t want that to happen to me! Please help.
Thank you,

Dayla

Video: NH Senator Shaheen’s granddaughter’s DAD-
 NH Senator's Diabetes Alert Dog Video


Donations
Donations are greatly appreciated. Any donations received beyond our goal will help with:

• Travel to visit Buddy while he is in training so that Dayla can learn how to handle him.
• Specialized equipment and supplies for the dog such as service vest, leash, crate, travel bowls, etc.
• Fence for the yard to provide a safe place to exercise and train.
• Ongoing veterinary cost.
• Pet insurance- DAD owners need to carry insurance (replacement value, health and liability)
• We also plan to pay it forward. There are so many other deserving children that need a Diabetic Alert Dog (DAD) and have not been able to raise the funds to get one.
• JDRF

More information about Diabetes, DADs, Training, and Dayla

Websites
Videos:
NH Senator Shaheen’s granddaughter’s DAD
http://www.wmur.com/new-hampshire-chronicle/Monday-May-20th-Diabetes-Dog/20254462

Fielder the Super Dog:
http://www.thedoctorstv.com/articles/864-drey-s-alert-dogs-for-diabetics

What is Type 1 Diabetes?
http://jdrf.org/life-with-t1d/type-1-diabetes-information/what-is-diabetes/

Diabetic Alert Dog Info:
http://www.rheumatologynetwork.com/diabetic-alert-dogs-what-do-their-noses-know

Families with Dogs:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/tag/fielder-the-super-dog
louisville woman gets diabetic service dog

DAD Groups:
DAD Alliance: http://www.diabetesalertdogalliance.com
Dogs for Diabetics: http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/

Diabetes Alert Dogs (DAD) Training and Costs
Snapshot of DAD training and costs:
• Adult DADs can cost between $18,000 and $30,000.
• DADs are not covered by insurance.
• Training takes 1.5 to 2 years, beginning with scent-imprinting using odor samples collected during hypoglycemia episodes.
• Training includes house training, leash training, work in public, scent work, formal training about alerts and other DAD tasks such as retrieving glucose monitoring kits or cordless phones.
• When fully trained Buddy will be able to smell and signal Dayla when her blood sugar is out of range. Buddy will be able to accompany Dayla everywhere helping to keep her safe, healthy and giving peace of mind. For Diabetics, night time is always the worst. Buddy will sleep next to Dayla at night. He is being trained to wake up Dayla (or mom) if her blood sugars are out range.
• Buddy is currently being trained by Sassafras Canine Service Academy. Steve the trainer is a part-time minister and full-time dog trainer in Maryland. Training Diabetes Assistance Dogs for children is one of his passions.


-Dayla learning to handle Buddy-