Is a Service Dog Only For Blind People?

 I was sent a nicely made service dog vest to model on my Boston Terrier. Solaire has been a SiT, or Service Dog in Training when he was younger. I was pregnant with my third baby at almost 45 years old and my doctor was very concerned about my gestational diabetes, which caused problems in my other two pregnancies seventeen and nineteen years earlier.

 I was modifying my diet using the diabetic meal plan but my blood glucose was still spiking too high. My Boston Terrier puppy, Solaire was about five months old and I began reading up on training a Medical Alert Service Dog. A MASD can range from sensing seizures to blood glucose level spikes and drops and beyond. If its a chemical change in a human body, a MASD is trained to sense and respond appropriately. My Boston was trained to jump and bark at me when he sensed my blood sugar was spiking, which often left me feeling suddenly weak.

 I trained him myself with basic obedience and working in public. I used cotton fabric with saliva from my high glucose readings to teach him to alert me. It was a LOT of work and we ended up stopping while he was still in training as I was finally able to work out a low carb diet that allowed my blood sugars to process normally.

 That said, there are Service Dogs of all sizes and types and this is a quality vest that comes with a patch stating SERVICE DOG as well as soft vented sides. It is obviously too large for my Boston, this is a size large and the vest should be sized to not interfere with ease of movement. I didn't use the clip on the vest as I just don't think it gives the appropriate feedback for a Service Dog and I worry my Solaire might back out of it, so I used his regular harness under his vest.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F7066GY