Crush is Going Back to School!

As we celebrate back to school, I have felt a little somber. I miss school, I honestly love school. That being said, someone is going back to school and it’s Crush! For those who haven’t been following my journey long, Crush is my service dog. Crush is currently trained for mobility assistance and medical alerts. His medical alerts are restricted to a behavior alert for my allergies. Crush has also alerted me to my blood pressure but because this isn’t a trainable alert, I can only reinforce it when he naturally does it. 

Crush has done his job diligently for almost two years. He’s very good at it. He’s extremely attentive and can pick up on subtle signs that something is wrong. That being said, my needs have changed a bit. I have been struggling with episodes of hypoglycemia more than I ever have. They’re more significant and more difficult to deal with. Due to this, Crush will be trained to alert to this. 

It’s unclear whether this will be successful. Crush was not placed as a diabetic dog because it wasn’t his highest ranked skill. That being said, Crush naturally changes behavior when my sugar drops. This means that Crush is picking up on the natural indications or smell of a sugar drop. Even if Crush is successfully trained to alert to this, it will never be a thing I can fully rely on but it will be extremely helpful for when I’m out and about. 

Along with this new alert, Crush will learn a syncope response. I’ve had a lot of close calls lately. My health has taken somewhat of a downhill trend and it’s necessary that he be prepared. It’s unclear to me what this will look like. He could lay on my legs as an attempt to do deep pressure therapy to raise my blood pressure or retrieve a phone. Anything is better than nothing.

Crush has been such an incredible help to me. I feel so lucky that he is with me everyday. I have never met a more attentive, caring, and loving dog. I know that I’m biased but you have to admit that Crush is pretty skilled. He’s a rare and very special breed. 

I hope that you’re having a wonderful day. I hope that your day is filled with joy, positivity, and laughter. I hope you find peace, love, and happiness.