Life With Kolumbo, My Hypoglycemia Alert Dog

It is raining today. Kolumbo, my hypoglycemia alert dog, hates the rain. I think I have the only Labrador in the world that hates getting wet.

I opened the screen door this morning to feel the breeze and hear the rain. Unfortunately, while the door was open, a fly decided to come inside. When I say that Kolumbo is a lazy dog, I really mean it. He lay on his bed and watched the fly go around and around. then opened his mouth, thinking that the fly might just go in. I heard the snap of his teeth as he tried to get the fly.

Last night when I was sleeping, I felt a rough spot on my cheek. I rubbed it away. But I felt it again, then a slobber kiss. My daughter, Punkin, does not kiss like that. I opened one eye to see two brown eyes looking at me from about two inches away. Then I smelled doggie breath. Oh, such a nice doggie, to give me kisses in the night time, I thought.

Then again. The rough thing on my cheek. What was going on? I mumbled a word, but I didn’t know what it was. Another slobber kiss, and now my cheek was wet.

WAIT—I know this. Kolumbo is telling me my blood sugar is low. He is alerting me at night. I open both eyes to see him sitting on the bed beside me. He sees both my eyes are open and kisses me again on the cheek. By the way, he usually only gives kisses on the chin.

I go in the bathroom and test. YEP–super dog did it again. I get a regular soda from the refrigerator upstairs and sit back on my bed. Kolumbo is sitting on my bed still, waiting for his treat. I give him some cereal that I have inside my nightstand.

He finally goes to his bed, and I hear him let out a big sigh. This is the sign that my blood sugar is back up to a safe level. I know it is safe for me to go back to sleep.

I woke up in the morning and went downstairs. Punkin usually clears off the coffee table before bed because Kolumbo thinks he has “free rein” to eat what he finds there. Well, it wasn’t cleared off last night. I find pieces of a yellow box that used to say, “64 colors included.” There are bits of it all around the living room. He ate a box of crayons. Nothing like picking up colorful, speckled potty when he “goes.”

When Punkin was getting ready for school today, she got a sock out of the dryer and found a piece of caramel popcorn attached to the inside. I told her it was clean so she could eat it, but she rolled her eyes and put it on the coffee table. Well, guess who found enough energy to jump up and grab that piece of popcorn before I could throw it in the trash? Yes, Mr. Lazy Dog, who waits for a fly to go in his mouth. Guess he just wants guaranteed food!