Custom Trained Diabetic Alert Dog Delivered to Woman with Type 1 Diabetes in Ankeny, IA

Ankeny, IA, June 30, 2018 --(PR.com)-- Sara, a 40-year-old woman living in Ankeny, Iowa, received a very special delivery of her very own Diabetic Alert Service Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers. Based in Madison, Virginia, Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers, or "SDWR," has a mission to provide specially-bred and trained dogs for people of all ages that struggle with living with invisible disabilities such as Autism, PTSD, Seizure Disorders, or in the case of Sara—Type 1 Diabetes. In 2017, SDWR reached a milestone of having over 600 service dogs working around the globe. SDWR is currently serving approximately 1,000 families.

Snook, a white labrador retriever Diabetic Alert Dog, has already received countless hours of training through SDWR’s service dog raiser program where volunteers raise puppies in training for approximately one year. The dogs and raisers must follow through the foundation and skill set training provided through SDWR trainers at the facility in Virginia.

Snook is also an honored graduate of the SDWR Fallen Officer Puppy Program. The Fallen Officer Puppy Program, also known as “FOPP,” is an initiative by SDWR to pay respect to the legacy of service by fallen American police who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. Snook is named in honor of fallen Corporal Harvey Snook, III of the Arlington County Police Department in Virginia. Corporal Snook passed away on January 14, 2016, after his battle with cancer that he contracted as a result from working in the recovery efforts at the Pentagon following the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. Snook’s work as a Diabetic Alert Service Dog with Sara will carry on in memoriam of Corporal Snook’s life of service before self.

Sara was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 17-years-old. Sara no longer feel symptoms of fluctuating blood sugars and can become quite high or low before she feels anything. This limits her ability to participate in activities fully without worry and causes her to have anxiety that impacts her lifestyle and ability to cope and interact in certain situations. Sara is extremely hopeful that with the arrival of Diabetic Alert Dog, Snook, it will give her peace of mind knowing that her service dog is there to alert her to highs and lows in her blood sugar range.

SDWR uses a proprietary scent training method to teach Diabetic Alert Dogs to detect fluctuations in blood sugar that fall outside of a handler’s healthy range. Since Snook is a service dog and covered under laws in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, he will be able to accompany Sara and her family everywhere—from her office, to going on walks, even to bible study.

During the upcoming 18 months, SDWR will travel to Sara’s home every 3-4 months to continue working on Snook’s customized training, follow up training and training the human to make a successful team and public access certification. This certification can only be given to Sara after a progression of hard work and dedication to the SDWR training program. This training program is what sets SDWR apart from other nonprofit service dog organizations.

Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers is a Nonprofit Organization based in Madison, Virginia, and relies on donations to help the organization in its mission, "Until there’s a cure… there’s a dog." To make or donation or learn more about SDWR, please visit the website, www.sdwr.org. To learn more about Diabetic Alert Service Dogs visit www.sdwr.org/service-dogs/diabetic-alert/. To learn more about SDWR’s Fallen Officer Puppy Program visit www.sdwr.org/fallen-officer-puppy-program/.