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Ollie the three-year-old Lagotto Romagnolo, is a medical assistance dog for his owner, Monika Gawen. Monika lives with type one diabetes, which is the main condition Ollie assists Monika with as a Diabetic Alert Dog, as well as autism and anxiety. Ollie’s pedigree name is ‘Grand Champion Glenstar Walk the Line’.
Ollie's main role as a medical assistance dog is to assist Monika with her type one diabetes, alerting Monika of changes to her blood sugar through scenting a chemical release.
“When your blood sugar is high and low, it can emit a scent that is considered to have a sweet and or sour scent, and it is something that we can't really pick up on, but dogs can be trained to alert people to it, even an hour or more before the event actually happens.”
“I could start to become hypoglycaemic (low) in an hour, and Ollie is able to alert me to it.”
Additionally, Ollie has been trained to behave calmly in public, remaining quiet, ignoring distractions such as food and other dogs, and focusing solely on Monika. His training began when he was around five to six months old.
Monika previously had a curly-coated retriever who was also a medical assistance dog. Ollie was able to naturally pick up on the habits and mannerisms of Ronii, and Monika believes that helped Ollie's learning process.
“It can take a few months for dogs to pick up on alerting to changes to blood sugar levels, and I'm quite lucky in the sense that Ollie actually learned from Ronii and began alerting shortly after he passed.”
"He was able to see that when Ronii does this certain action when he detects this particular scent, he gets this big chicken treat as a reward.”
“Ollie's very food motivated and was able to hone in on that in his training.”
The process involved in training to detect blood sugar level changes involves collecting saliva samples in a sterile container, and each time Ollie goes to interacts with that sample, he is rewarded with a high-value treat.
“We begin with training with four samples, one is a normal blood sugar level, while the rest are low, and each time he sniffs the correct sample, he gets a treat.”
“Eventually we move outside where more scents are naturally out, I'll quickly sneak a sample of the low blood sugar in my pocket and walk out to him and act like nothing's happening, and he has to then indicate to me.”
“I’ll also have a few perfect level samples in there, and the goal is to have Ollie ignore those samples.”
“The job never stops, he's alerting day, night, in the show ring, when I'm grooming my client’s dogs, his nose is always on the go, always watching, always honed into what I am doing.”
Ollie also assists Monika with her anxiety and autism, helping ease her anxiousness by providing deep pressure therapy, where he's trained to target certain pressure points on her body to help her feel grounded.
“He's also trained when I get a bit more anxious, which again is another chemical release, he will come over and he'll jump on my lap or bring me a toy and generally try to distract me from how I am feeling.”
“He's also trained to go find people if I get overwhelmed, overstimulated at a shopping centre, he's got certain people that I'm out with all the time and knows their name, and he goes and finds them.”
Ollie is also trained to act as a barrier between Monika and everyone else, creating that distance and space.
Ollie is classed as a legitimate assistance dog under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), specifically under Section 9(2)(c), which defines an assistance animal as ‘one that is trained to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effects of that disability.’
“Laws regarding assistance animals are generally determined on a federal level and then followed by state laws, which may be different in each state.”
Some common ways to train up assistance dogs are through organisations like Guide Dogs and Assistance Dogs Australia, which train and assign dogs, or individuals can take up the journey of training their own dogs, as Monika has done.
“Ollie is self-trained by me, and we trained under the DDA, which is under the federal law.”
“We do have the Dog and Cat Management Board in South Australia that has its own rules however, the main importance is being compliant with the federal law.”
“Our state law doesn’t specifically state a dog must be trained by a dog trainer to work in public as an assistance dog, but they do list organisations if you were to sit a PAT (public access test), which isn't required by either state or federal law.”, said Monika.
The five restricted breeds in Australia are the American Pitbull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu and the Presa Canario. Any or all forms of these breeds cannot work as an assistance animal. Any form of wolfdog is also prohibited. If your dog is a registered dangerous dog cannot be an assistance animal. Dingoes cannot be assistance dogs even if it's legal in a state, as federally, it's restricted.
One of the major benefits of having an assistance dog to help alert to blood sugar levels is that they are often more reliable and accurate than medical equipment.
“They're quicker than the modern-day technology, which often can lag up to half an hour, so to have something that can alert me and tell me an hour plus before it happens is really invaluable and can prevent things from becoming worse.”, Monika said.
“I could have a finger prick to check my blood levels and a fruit juice ready, but having Ollie alert me before I go too high or I go too low, have bleeding or any medical issues, and any medical disasters is incredibly beneficial and even lifesaving.”
The Lagotto Romagnolo, hailing from its homeland of Italy, was originally bred to retrieve small game animals and later on became truffle dogs, sniffing out prized truffles, which are a type of fungi prized for their culinary value and flavour. Having a very keen sense of smell, Lagotto Romagnolos do extremely well when trained in detecting truffles under the soil, digging and alerting their owners.
“In Italy and you'll see them out on truffle farms, and even across all states in Australia, we've got dogs placed in truffle farms.”
“They have a strong working ability, which I think some people don't realise and they get bored very easily if they don't have a job, which is why Ollie does his job so well.”
With an innate retrieving ability, Monika has incorporated this trait into Ollie’s training.
“Ollie can retrieve my finger prick or open the fridge and get me some fruit juice if I am in bed and feeling a little unwell or my blood sugar is dropping.”
“He's got such a keen strong sense of smell and that little nose is always busy!”, she said.
Monika says she is seeing that heightened sense of smell in Ollie’s as he can detect her blood sugar going low even if he is at the other end of the room.
“If you're out in a crowded shopping centre with other diabetics, it’s important Ollie knows which chemical release is mine.”
The Lagotto Romagnolo is an intelligent breed that loves to work along their owners and have that drive to work. They are wonderful companions and generally pick out one person who they bond closely with.
“Ollie is a one-person kind of dog and he knows I'm his person and is focused on me, even when I am not right near him, watching me closely and air scenting, which is why he is so good at letting me know when my sugar is dropping.”
Dogs Australia is a not-for-profit organisation advocating for the preservation of purebred dogs through ethical breeding.
It champions the highest standard of animal welfare through education and fostering dog-loving communities.
Internationally recognised and established in 1958 as the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC),
the organisation promotes responsible dog ownership; maintains the ORCHID* heritable canine diseases database;
funds research into canine diseases; and supports state and territory-based member bodies.
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