Penn Vet's Working Dog Center Shows Off 3 Exceptional Graduates
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Today was graduation today for some special dogs who will go on to do some special work.
One, a diabetes alert dog trained to sniff out dangerous blood sugar levels in its owner, was among three canines who graduated from the Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, in Grays Ferry.
Bretagne, a golden retriever, was the first dog trained at Penn Vet for diabetes detection. Her new owner, Wayne Mowry, of Bloomingdale, NJ, has Type 1 diabetes.
He says he can sleep easier now, knowing that Bretagne will alert him when his blood sugar level is low by pawing at him, which could potentially save his life.
"You become unaware of your low blood sugars," he explains. "What mostly happens is that you start to sweat, and it's usually at night with your low blood sugar. So that's where my biggest fear is, having those low blood sugars. And that's where 75 percent of diabetics problems' are, at night, because you are asleep."
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Alo graduating from the program was a Labrador retriever named Morgan, who will go on to train with the New Jersey State Police in narcotics detection, and a lab named Thunder who will work with New Jersey's "Task Force One" in search and rescue.
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"It is truly a graduation," said Dr. Cindy Otto, founder of the Working Dog Center (at far right in middle photo). "It's the pride, but also the little bit of loss of something that we have helped nurture. And the pride is that they are now able to be so successful and take all of the tools that they got here and go out and do a job and have a career," she said.
Dr. Otto says a total of six canines have graduated from the center since it opened two years ago, with more on the way.
