Benny, a diabetic-alert dog, is more than just a pet for this Warner Robins family

Dylan Cochran and her dog Benny, an 11-month-old labradoodle with hair as curly as the girl who leads him around, sprint through the living room of their Warner Robins home.

She is 5 and got Benny on Jan. 5, but he isn’t just there to eat treats, play fetch and cuddle.

He is a diabetic-alert dog that’s there as a medical device that could be a potential lifesaver for Dylan, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two years ago. Dylan’s mom, Whitney Cochran, said that it has been quite a journey since she was first diagnosed. At the time, her doctor decided to run one additional test after spending weeks trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

“I just thought she was sick. I kept taking her to the doctor and they couldn’t tell me that anything was wrong with her,” Whitney said. “So we went back, they checked her finger and her blood sugar and sure enough she was over 500. So we went straight to the hospital that day. My mind was totally blown with no family history on either side.”

Their world was changed forever. It was hard for Dylan at the age of 3 to understand the constant pokes, pinches and other stuff that went along with her diagnoses, Whitney said.

She gets her daughter’s blood sugar readings sent to her phone through a monitor on Dylan’s arm called the Dexcom, it is a continuous glucose monitor. Since Dylan was diagnosed, Whitney typically sleeps just an hour or so at a time as she constantly wakes up to check her readings.

“When she first got diagnosed I was going way overboard. I was poking her finger every 25 to 30 minutes because I just had to know,” Whitney said. “It was so stressful and so scary to me not knowing which way she was going to swing at any given moment.”

About six months after Dylan was diagnosed, Whitney saw a piece about a diabetic alert dog on the news. She was highly skeptical of a dog being able to alert when someone’s blood sugar moved out of range. She has also never owned a dog before.

“I am not a pet person so I genuinely thought, ‘Yeah, right, there is no way.’ There is no way these dogs can smell blood sugar,” Whitney said. “I wasn’t buying it. I know animals are smart but I just thought they found a really clever way to charge a lot of money for a dog.”

But one day Whitney was sitting at work when an alert went off on her phone. The meter indicated that Dylan’s blood sugar was so low that it was no longer even registering. Her mind raced to the worst-case scenario as she sprinted out the door to the car to go to her daughter’s school.

“I knew they were at lunch. I ran to the lunchroom and the nurse was following me down the hall,” Whitney said. “Come to find out Dylan had popped off the Dexcom off of her arm. Absolutely terrified me. I mean I was so scared. I thought I was going to get there and my child was going to be having a seizure.”

That was the moment that pushed Whitney into finally deciding that they needed a diabetic alert dog. She reached out to Diabetic Alert Dogs of America in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Diabetes dogs require lengthy training

They started the process of getting the dog back in April 2019. The cost of the dog is around $15,000 and the family set up a GoFundMe that they are still accepting donations for to help cover the cost of Benny.

The application process is lengthy as you have to answer questions ranging from other pets to personalities and routines.

At this time you can pick your preferences on what type of dog you might want. The goal of the process is to match the right dog with the person for whom it will belong.

They wanted a female labradoodle but during the process, the owner of the company that oversees the training contacted them about Benny, a male labradoodle. He said that it was the perfect fit even though it was a boy dog. Whitney agreed that they would take him.

Benny went through temperament training and fit with Dylan because he is a mellow dog who can take commands from a little girl.

The next part of the process was getting Benny ready over the course of the entire training period to meet Dylan.

This involved Facetiming so that she could interact even though they weren’t in Las Vegas, and training Benny to Dylan’s smell based on different blood sugar levels. The process involves glass jars, overnight shipping and lots of spit on cotton balls.

“She had to soak cotton balls in spit and then spit them into the jar. Then once we had enough samples we overnight flew them to Las Vegas,” Whitney said. “They trained him that way. So he is actually trained to her smell.”

Benny finally arrived after months of anticipation and excitement. The first thing he did was pee. Then within three minutes of being inside the house, Benny went right to work as he alerted Whitney that Dylan’s blood sugar had gone out of range.

For type 1 diabetes there are two different concerns: If it goes low it is called hypoglycemia. This can result in fainting, seizures, going into a coma and potentially death. On the high end, it is called hyperglycemia. This can cause mood swings, trouble concentrating and potential long-term organ damage.

On the second day, he alerted Whitney that Dylan’s blood sugar was low. Whitney checked the Dexcom to see what Dylan’s blood sugar reading was and it showed that she was in range.

Whitney decided to test it by hand and it revealed that Dylan had dropped into the 60s, which is considered a low reading.

“He caught it an entire 38 minutes before it registered on her glucose monitor. I timed it,” Whitney said. “Having something that can recognize it and not just have to rely on a little computer is incredible. There is definitely a sense of relief. 38 minutes is the difference between her having a seizure and her being safe.”

Benny provides family a sense of relief

The new sense of relief with Benny has been a welcome change. Whitney and Benny can now work in tandem to monitor Dylan’s blood sugar.

It has resulted in a bit more sleep at night for Whitney and a great sense of comfort knowing she doesn’t just have to rely on the technology to provide her with updates.

“I actually slept for like six solid hours the other night because the dog is here,” Whitney said. “I guess that is more relief than I can verbalize.”

There is a sense of excitement among Whitney, Dylan and her older brother Weiland with the addition of Benny into the family. Each day he is allowed 10 percent of his time to play. They enjoy taking him into the backyard for games of tag.

“We do love Benny. We are happy that he is here,” Whitney said. “We are still acclimating to it. It is a big change.”

Dylan sat on the floor with a smile on her face and echoed those sentiments. She wrapped her arms around Benny and said: “I love you, Benny.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 2:02 PM.