A hero service dog was excitedly treated to a new toy after saving his owner’s life in the middle of the night.
Allison Albin, 21, from South Lyon, Michigan, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was five years old and doesn’t remember life without the condition.
When she was 17, she was also diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a rare disorder of the adrenal glands not producing enough cortisol and aldosterone, which almost caused her to almost lose her life.
Following a long recovery, Allison and her family were worried about her future independence, as Addison’s disease made her diabetes management much more difficult.
Fearing for when she would be living on her own or attending college, Allison’s family decided she needed a service dog, and so she got Jasper, a golden retriever puppy, when he was 12 weeks old.
For two years, Jasper was by Allison’s side, attending all her classes and there when she graduated.
His main responsibility is low blood sugar detection, particularly in the night, which he does by nudging Allison in at various points while she’s asleep to make sure her sugars have not dropped too low.
Sugar lows had resulted in seizures in the past, and one night, on February 12, at around 2am, Jasper’s face nudges resulted in no response from Allison, nor his next trained step of flicking her hand.
The fast-thinking pooch then had the foresight to remove Allison’s blankets and start chewing on her foot, waking the 21-year-old up so she could treat herself.
Allison shared an explainer video on social media, looking to raise awareness of the work dogs like Jasper do, which went viral with viewers heaping praise on Jasper for being a good boy.
She then explained Jasper was thoroughly deserving of a treat, posting a second video where she visited a local pet store and then presented the toy she had picked out to an excitable Jasper.
Allison said: “Jasper has only been formally trained to alert me by booping my face or messing with my hands.
“I just felt so emotional when I woke up to him biting and pulling on my feet, panicking to wake me up.
“He had also pulled all the blankets off of the bed in attempts to wake me.
“It reminded me of just how amazing he is, and I was so grateful for him in that moment.
“He is my hero.
“The response has been positive – it makes me so happy to see Jasper getting the love and recognition that he deserves.
“I wish he spoke English so I could read him all of his nice and supportive comments.
“He has worked so hard his whole life to take care of me, he deserves to feel special.
“I hope from this story others can understand how serious of an illness type one diabetes is, and how important service dog work is.
“I often get nasty looks in public when I go out with a service dog, as I don’t look like I have anything wrong with me.
“I would get in arguments with store managers, even leading to me having to lift my shirt to show them my tube down my arm or stomach.
“People often would assume I was using him for emotional support, and while important those dogs have less public access.
“Invisible illnesses exist, and people need to acknowledge that.”
