• These are NOT fully trained dogs.  As stated on the website, their obedience is well started and they know and typically exercise the do's and don'ts appropriately but you MUST follow through with your training in order for it to progress and be maintained.  We teach you how to do this in class.  This is so for fully trained dogs as well. If you do not maintain the obedience, the alerting will stop.



• These are NOT fully scent trained dogs.  We play scent games with them as puppies to allow them to do this as well as spend a couple of weeks playing with the dogs and the scented socks you send us ahead of classes.  This allows us to make sure the dogs will not have an aversion to the actual low scent created by that person as well getting them familiar with that scent and ready for you to take over.  We then teach you to do the scent training in class and allow the dog to pick their own alert.  Over many months, the dogs progress with their alerting and go from 10% alerting to 25% to 50%, etc....each at their own pace.  Once they get above the 80-90% mark, we start helping you fine tune the alert to be a very specific behavior that you can see and identify with more ease.  This is one method of training any type of scent detection dog and is how HSP has chosen to go about things as it seems to work best for our dogs and their families over time and for more accurate alerts down the road. 



• We say it over and over but I'll say it again.  Night time alerting will most likely not even start for at least 6 months.  These dogs are going from a training environment where they work for 2-3 hrs a day into a sudden and drastic change of who they are with, where they are, and most of all they are now working 24/7.  Just like when you bring a newborn home and start suffering long hrs of work and sleep deprivation, these dogs take a while to adjust to such and be able to work day and night. 



• There are many reasons we have chosen not to have a very specific dog for each person before meeting them.  If we did have a very specific alert that was definite each and every time, and the dog was fully trained, we would be back at the 5-6 year waiting list.  Few are able to wait that long.  If we did such and the person got here and they were not a good match for THAT dog, what then?  We would have to go back to the drawing board and spend 6 months or so training a different dog and the person would have to come to a different class.  Not too many people have multiple sets of 3 weeks off work and school as well as the funds to do so multiple times.  We narrow it down to 3-4 dogs per person and know which dog we feel would work best by the 2nd day of class.  There ARE times we must switch out dogs so make SURE you are aware of such.  Some fight us on this and are never happy with the end result.  One such family was in a previous class and they are now unhappy with the dog they decided was best, against our advice.  We let them have their way as nothing else was going to satisfy one of the parents and now they are in an uproar as it's not working out the way they wanted.  Hard lesson learned.  We will no longer allow the family to have a say in the dog no matter how adamant they are...period.



• There are organizations out there that train the dogs in a much different manner so that they alert on all diabetic lows, meaning your service dog or your child's service dog may not be paying attention to your low or highs as they have smelled a stronger scent around them of another diabetic having a low or high.   The other programs do not conduct classes but rather place dogs one at a time, creating much longer waits.  This is how some prefer to go through the process and we would never discourage such.  This is a very individual decision and should be allowed to be just that. However, it is not how we have chosen to train.



• We have always highly discouraged and been quick to ask that no negativity or disrespect be allowed to be fostered in these classes in order to avoid everyone having to deal with someone’s attitude and taking the rest of the class down with them.  We have a 0 tolerance policy for such.  I hate that it has come to this but is has been found to be necessary for the sake of all involved.  It just makes it too emotionally difficult and tense for the others attending and makes it even harder in an already difficult situation with a difficult disease.  It also sets up others for failure.  Our goal is to help others...not hinder them or bring them into a spirit of negativity.



• Some people do not like how direct our trainers may need to be.  We are left with little to no choice.  We do not yell or cuss at anyone.  In fact, we often try to make a joke of something to ease it but will impress it upon you as best possible when you are not grasping a concept or forgetting to complete a task as you are supposed to.  We try very hard to work with various types of learning styles as everyone is different in how they best learn.



• Now, if you choose to be difficult or refuse to abide by the guidelines, you WILL be called out on the carpet over it.  It's absolutely necessary and vital to your and everyone else's success.



• Communication.  Communication is key.  Keeping a positive attitude, exercising patience, realizing this will NOT happen overnight, and keeping your eye on the final goal of making this work should always be kept in sight.  Realizing we will work with you as long as you stay in touch and communicate as well as follow through on what we tell you is vital.  We sometimes have folks who drop all communication and then months later are angry that it is not working for them.  If we can't get you to tell us what is going on, we can't help you.  We're not going to chase you.  If you need help, you need to tell us so we can address it.  We won't just "drop you" after you leave class.  We prefer to stay highly involved with our clients over the long haul. 



• Some people get home and begin experiencing "buyer's remorse" when they realize we really were telling them the truth when we said they had to continue the training and it is hard work. They then get upset as they feel they should have a fully trained dog vs. the class program dog. We want to make sure you know exactly what you are getting into before going any further. If you then choose to be difficult, at least we know we did everything we possibly could to avoid such.



• We start class first thing in the morning (usually 8am) and work through till lunch. We then have training sessions in the afternoon. During your spare time, you are expected to be doing your homework and working alone with your dog. Spare time is not time for gatherings or socialization. While that may sound harsh, we have a lot to shove into a small time frame (just 3 weeks). Do not bring work, schoolwork, or make plans to socialize while here. You won’t have time in all honesty.

We have each family fax in “low/alert” sheets each Friday. This allows us to see the progression of alerts and make sure things are progressing forward properly. We also have each family send in a monthly video tape showing the various tasks and scenarios we need to see to make sure things are progressing forward properly. It also allows us to catch issues before they become much larger issues. We are not there to see everything so the faxed sheets and video tapes are vital to us being able to properly support our clients. If they fail to do so, we are unable to support them in the manner needed.

Many families wish to train their dogs for additional tasks. We help point you in the right direction when the timing is appropriate.

We have multiple layers of testing for behavior and temperament.

As most experienced trainers or behaviorists will tell you, the behavior and temperament of a dog is greatly influenced by the environment the dog is in. This means the home enviroment and family dynamics play a very large role in such. Factors that may result in negative behaviors include but are not limited to the following: abuse in the home, abuse of the dog, bullying, human aggression, excessive anger issues, total lack of structure and/or boundaries in the home, or other negative human behaviors can and will influence the behaviors and temperament of the dog. Other things that may influence how your dog reacts to your home environment are major life events such as: prolonged periods of seclusion, a death in the family, a divorce, a traumatic event, or even the addition of a new family member, if not addressed properly.

A dog is like a child. They must have an alpha (you) and continued reinforcement of proper behaviors. They must have well defined boundaries to maintain their proper behaviors. They must also have security, love, and proper care. While many look at this and think it is simply common sense, there is a vast difference between recognizing such and executing it consistently within the home. For some families it may not be possible due to their family dynamics. This should be considered before going any further. Make sure you will be able to carry through on your end of the bargain so as to ensure the greatest chance of success for both yourself and your service dog.

For this reason, in our contracts, we require our clients to report any show of aggression and maintain the right to remove the dog from the home for the safety of the dog and client. While some deem this to be extreme, we believe it to be responsible.

If you go home, properly carry through with your training, properly fill out your weekly reports and fax them in on time, send in your completed monthly videos on time, follow through with directions given, maintain the healthcare of the dog, and stay in cooperative communication with us, and things still do not work out, HSP will evaluate the dog and family and see if there is anything else that should be changed. If the dog is failing to alert due to no fault of the family and/or individual and the family and/or individual are properly carrying through with all direction and responsibilities, HSP will gladly exchange the dog for another that we determine would be the best fit. If the family is only failing in certain areas but trying very hard, and the dog is not alerting, and we feel another dog would still suit the situation better, we may opt to exchange the dog in that situation as well.

Some families have gone home after the 3 week class and failed to do their part. Some feel it is just too much work. Some have a hard time taking direction from others. Some are just not going to be happy no matter what anyone does or doesn't do. They then are accountable to their community as the community has helped them raise funds during fundraising and would like to know how things are going. Rather than do their part, they choose to blame HSP. Bottom line they did not follow through with their homework and / or their responsibilities. If they do not do their part, doing their homework, following through with the guidance given, and work with HSP, following instruction in a cooperative spirit, of course it will not work.

Those who have followed through, have made it work and done a wonderful job not only for themselves but for the service dog community as a whole. These clients we will help through most anything we humanly can. We have had clients forget vet paperwork while trying to cross a border and we made sure to intervene and provide the paperwork so they could cross. We have had clients forget the dog's service dog vest and we over-nighted one to them. We have had clients who literally had an emotional breakdown when confronted by store personnel who did not wish to permit public access and we have intervened there as well. We have had clients who have encountered a rebellious or overwhelmed teenager who no longer felt they could deal with their service dog's needs and have intervened there as well. We have had clients who just need to vent as this is not easy. We gladly listen. We have had clients need a dog exchanged for one reason or another and we have driven up the same day or the next to exchange the dog when possible. We have even had some clients who needed more than the average help once they got back home and have arranged for a trainer in their area to help them after helping that trainer understand what we do, how, and why. We truly will go out of our way as long as the individual and/or family is willing to do their part and try.

We are here to empower you to help your child or yourself. We'll give you the tools, the dog, the training, and the knowledge. We'll walk you through things, step by step and help you rework things when one path doesn't work for you or your family. We are not here to wave a magic wand. You must do your part too. If you do your part in earnest, we will be thrilled to work with you to make sure this is successful.

It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that you thoroughly read the fundraising guidelines and adhere to them without fail. If you choose not to follow the rules, you will be removed from the program. No exceptions will be made. This is in an effort to prevent fraud.

One thing that seems to concern many is that they feel badly doing fundraising. Some compare it to begging and thus they are not comfortable doing so. We encourage you to realize you are fundraising for HSP and not for yourself. You are helping make others aware of both Type I Diabetes and the fact that Service Dogs for Diabetes exist. So while you are helping yourself by completing goals you have been given, you are helping others at the same time. Our organization was founded to help others and will continue to grow by each individual helping others. If one looks at it as such, it often becomes much easier to fundraise.

HSP is a 501c3 organization. This means that not only is the donation tax deductible by the person donating it but also that we are accountable to the IRS for our fundraising efforts. In addition there are policies in regards to how fundraising is completed. For these reasons, all fundraising efforts, publicity, letters, flyers, websites, blogs, and other publications released must be cleared through HSP with NO exceptions.

IMPORTANT: You will need to email us weekly with an update on all planning and/or fundraising activities. Keep a detailed account of all your contacts including but not limited to, schools, universities and colleges, churches, media other agencies, businesses, or funding sources. Provide this list along with updates on your fundraising efforts weekly. If we have a problem with how a letter or flier is worded, we will provide alternate wording.

If an activity is not acceptable we will explain and offer an alternative means of raising the money. There are specific ways the money raised should be collected and/or supplied to HSP and these will be shared with you at the time that we discuss the fundraiser with you. If you were just to go out and “do it on your own”, you might accidentally misrepresent the fundraising process to the donors or create a legal issue that we would then have to deal with. Remember, in essence you are volunteering your time and fundraising efforts to HSP in order to qualify for a dog through our organization.  

We have placed many dogs and have never had very few applicants that could not raise the total amount of their fundraising requirement. Those applicants were typically limited to officers of the law who were prohibited from doing such lest others in their community see it as a means to an end if the donated….a “get out of jail free” card, if you will. Fundraising does take time and effort on your part; funds do not come in over night. HSP will continue to work with you as long as it takes, if you are truly putting for the effort required. Generally the fundraising for this amount takes 3-12 weeks.

However, if you were to raise half, three-fourths, etc. of the money and then quit your fundraising efforts, stating you no longer wish to participate in this process, no dog will be placed with you. The donations you helped to raise for HSP are not returned. These are monies given to HSP as a donation and will be used by HSP to continue our service dog placement services. Please be clear on this topic of discussion. HSP will NOT quit working with you as long as you are making the efforts needed. We will support you in any way and continue until all funds are raised.