The Beginning

Murphy will be ready to come home next month. We are as nervous as expectant parents. We should get a photo at 5 weeks, and she will be seven weeks when she enters our lives. It was suggested that I should chronicle our journey of training a diabetic alert dog from a puppy. Perhaps others can learn from what we do right, and what we do wrong.

From reading several books, we have at least successfully navigated the first decisions. That is, of course, if you ignore that we've completely set aside the dire warnings not to start with a puppy. Disaster and chaos lie ahead of us! Plowing ahead, we've chosen to find our puppy at a kennel  which breeds British Labs. (click here to see puppies from Wildrose) Highly recommended for their excellent nose, train ability, and fondness for their own human, the British Labs are somewhat smaller and stockier than their much larger American Lab cousins.

Murphy is a female, also advised in the books to avoid a "macho" male dog who might find it interesting to mark his territory. Not to disparage all male dogs, we are just trying to stack the odds in our favor. Her name derives from William's assertion that if something is going to go wrong, it will. Murphy's Law. Perhaps given his dual diagnoses, that can be understood.

I intend to also use this blog to share things I've learned of diabetes care. It may not interest those of you not touched by this dreadful disease, and you are welcome to page ahead to cute puppy photos. For now, a sweet, fat puppy snuggles for the night with her siblings, unaware that she has been chosen to be a hero.