× Diabetic alert dog arrives for Athens man on Saturday, saves him from episode that night
ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) – An Athens man who lives with Type One Diabetes has a new leash on life thanks to the arrival of “Sweetie,” a diabetic alert dog.
TJ Tucker and his family have been working for months to raise $25,000 to pay for the dog and her training. Saturday, May 9, 2015, Warren Retrievers out of Virginia delivered Sweetie to TJ.
The bond between them was almost instant.
“I was pretty surprised that she was alerting that quick,” he said, recalling how she started reacting to his blood sugar levels being off.
Sweetie is trained to recognize when his sugar level is too high or too low. Saturday night, Sweetie proved she can be a lifesaver when TJ’s sugar level went up while he was sleeping.
“It was 300 and she woke up and she got sick from being stressed over my sugar,” he said. “I can relax. I feel comfortable because she knows what my blood sugar is even though I don’t know what it is.”
Sweetie is one and a half years old. Trainers are working with TJ to teach him commands and tips in handling her.
“She’ll go everywhere with me. She’ll go to work with me everyday. She’ll go anywhere I go,” he said.
He still needs to raise about $12,000 more to make his fundraising commitment to Warren Retrievers. to learn how you can help. for more information about Warren Retrievers.
