Book Review by Julia - Elle and Coach + Diabetic Alert Dogs

Kristin here: My daughter Julia wanted to write a Book Review about a book she read a couple months ago. I encouraged her to write and up and tell her story. I can't believe what a good job she did. I only had to fix a couple of punctuation marks but otherwise it was perfect. Here's what she has to tell you.  

From Julia:
About a month ago, I was spending a Wednesday afternoon after school hanging out at my favorite little local library - Cushman Library, browsing around at books and movies, when something intriguing caught my eye. It was a book with white and blue binding. I picked it up off the pile and took a good long look at it. It was a book with a girl on the cover probably about my age and a very adorable regal looking dog (a labrador retriever to be precise). I read the title for the book: Elle and Coach. So I thought to myself: “Well, isn’t that adorable?” After a minute I then noticed something else that caught my eye about the book. It was the subheading below that I didn’t notice right away. It read: “Diabetes, the fight for my daughter’s life, and the dog that changed everything." I read it again. Yes, it was about diabetes. I instantly knew that it was fate that I found this book (or was it the book that found me?). (For those of you that don’t know I have been a type one diabetic for nearly twelve years now -- since I was six). 

I sat down and instantly started reading. The book is written by a woman named Stefany Shaheen, and it tells the true story of her daughter’s struggle with diabetes. I immediately felt a connection to the story and didn’t put it down for hours. Ms. Shaheen goes on to explain how a labrador retriever diabetic alert service dog came into her family’s life. The dog is named Coach, and goes anywhere and everywhere that Elle goes. High school, dance camp, out to dinner, the theater. You name it, Coach goes there. 

But Coach doesn’t just follow Elle around for support. Coach can sense when Elle is having a low or high blood sugar. He can smell the sugar in her body as it gives off a very strong chemical scent. I don’t want to ruin the whole book, but in one part, Elle is upstairs in the bathroom taking a shower with the door closed and Coach is downstairs and he suddenly starts freaking out. So Elle’s parent’s told her to test and low and behold (haha), she was LOW. The dog was right! I was astounded and wanted to keep reading.  Overall, the book was a very quick enjoyable read. 

After I finished it, I knew my time with this book was not done. I told my parents that I wanted to apply for a diabetic alert dog like Coach. Elle had gotten her dog from an organization called CARES, Inc. The organization is out of Kansas. So, I made it my mission to contact them and find out more information. I recently called CARES, and spoke with their owner Megan Llewelyn and found some resourceful information. 

I have just recently filled out my application for a service dog. I have decided that I would most like a female Golden Retriever (although, I am truly happy with any dog that could save my life). When I spoke with CARES, they told me that once my application has been processed, the waiting period is twelve to eighteen months. After that, you go to the CARES training facility in Kansas for a week long class where you meet the dog you will be potentially be taking home at the end of the week, and work with the staff to train the dog. At the end of the week, if you pass all the tests, you get to bring your dog home with you...FOREVER!! 

The Diabetic alert dogs at CARES cost an upwards of $3,500 (CARES is extremely reasonable when it comes to pricing as some organizations sell their dogs between $25,000-$50,000), plus you have to pay for your flight to and from Kansas and the cost of the food and toys for the dog. Along with vet bills, it can become a lot of responsibility. I plan on starting a Kickstarter or GoFundMe page, when I know a little more information. If any of you readers know information about these dogs, the CARES organization, or if you even own a diabetic service dog, we’d love to hear from you!

You can find out more information on CARES, or Elle and Coach by going to these resources: 

http://www.elleandcoach.com/

https://www.facebook.com/elleandcoach/

http://stefanyshaheen.com/elles-story/

https://twitter.com/elleandcoach

You can purchase the book on Amazon here and you can find more about CARES, Inc. here: http://www.caresks.com/

Additionally you can find out about diabetic service dogs: 

Healthline

Animal Health Foundation

The Bark

Thanks for reading - Julia.

p.s. From Kristin - If any of you readers have any experience with Diabetic Alert Dogs, please leave a comment on the blog of email me and julia at kristinnicholasATgmailDOTcom and juliadupreyATgmailDOT com. I am wondering if any smaller dogs might work considering Julia is a peanut (almost 5 feet tall and is frequently knocked over by our Great Pyrenees). Thanks - kn