Canine responses to hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
Anecdotal evidence suggests that domestic dogs may be able to detect hypoglycemia in their human caregivers; scientific investigation of this phenomenon, however, is sorely lacking. This study thus aimed to investigate how pet dogs respond to the hypoglycemic episodes of their owners with type 1 diabetes.


METHODS
Two hundred and twelve dog owners (64.2% female) with medically diagnosed type 1 diabetes participated in the study. All participants owned at least 1 dog. Each person completed a purpose-designed questionnaire developed to collect information on their dogs' responses (if any) to their hypoglycemic episodes.


RESULTS
One hundred and thirty-eight (65.1%) respondents indicated that their dog had shown a behavioral reaction to at least one of their hypoglycemic episodes, with 31.9% of animals reacting to 11 or more events. Canine sex, age, breed status, and length of pet ownership were unrelated to hypoglycemia-response likelihood. Thirty-six percent of the sample believed that their dogs reacted most of the times they went "low"; 33.6% indicated that their pets reacted before they themselves were aware they were hypoglycemic. Dogs' behavioral responses to their owners' hypoglycemic episodes varied. Most animals behaved in a manner suggestive of attracting their owners' attention, for example, vocalizing (61.5%), licking them (49.2%), nuzzling them (40.6%), jumping on top of them (30.4%), and/or staring intently at their faces (41.3%). A smaller proportion showed behavioral responses suggestive of fear, including trembling (7.2%), running away from the owner (5.1%), and/or hyperventilating (2.2%).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that behavioral reactions to hypoglycemic episodes in pet owners with type 1 diabetes commonly occur in untrained dogs. Further research is now needed to elucidate the mechanism(s) that dogs use to perform this feat.
Wells
Deborah L
DL
School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. d.wells@qub.ac.uk
Lawson
Shaun W
SW
Siriwardena
A Niroshan
AN
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009812:Odorants; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom