Jim is an insulin dependent diabetic and had learned of Dogs4Diabetics when he met a fellow diabetic, Crystal Clearwater, and her medical alert dog, Dela. Knowing what an extraordinarily smart and devoted dog Trinity was, Jim decided that he wanted to try to train Trinity himself! He purchased the book How To Train Your Diabetic Alert Dog by Rita Martinez, CPTD-KA, and immediately began the training process. Trinity learned the basics quickly but when Jim hit some stumbling blocks in the later stages of training, he was able to have a few sessions with the author, Ms. Martinez, who lives in Oakley, Ca. The entire training process took the Jim-Trinity team a total of eight months when Trinity was proudly certified as a medical alert dog in March 2014.
Trinity is now constantly at Jim’s side to be able to alert him whether they are awake or asleep if his blood sugar goes either too low or too high. It is a tremendous relief for Jim and his family that his faithful companion is always at his side and on the job. Jim hopes that other diabetics, particularly children, will learn of the Dogs4Diabetics program and the Early Alert Canines program to find a gifted animal like Trinity to help make their lives safer and easier.
