DDO-U: Diabetic Dog Owners University "How It Came to Be"
We are approaching the birthday of our DDO-U Thinkific course and want to share with you what drove us to build an online course. My and Alicia’s stories are a little lengthy, so please bear with us.
Michelle’s Story
I never could have imagined 5.5 years ago that I would have the knowledge of canine diabetes that I have today, and I certainly never pictured having a learning platform that would educate and empower other diabetic dog parents. Here we are today celebrating our Thinkific course's birthday!
Lucy came into my life via her human dad Scott in 2011, she was the sweetest JRT you will ever meet. Lucy was smart, funny, loving and a gentle leader. Frank and Bella, my two nondiabetic dogs, also fell in love with Lucy, and the five of us became a furry family. In August 2015 Lucy started exhibiting some illness but symptoms went away as quickly as they appeared until the middle of August. Lucy was a true food lover and would not eat even though she acted hungry, she also exhibited symptoms of pain so off to the vets we went. Blood work came back that she was diabetic and had severe pancreatitis. I chose to care for her at home because I did not want her alone at the vets and quite honestly, I thought she might not make it. I got a crash course on subcutaneous fluids and insulin. Luckily with low fat diet, all the right medications and fluids she healed quickly.
The first couple months I was in a haze, I did not know anything about canine diabetes and was much more worried about another bout of pancreatitis. Lucy ate a low-fat prescription diet, got insulin every twelve hours, I learned to test blood glucose levels and ran curves at home. Despite all this Lucy continued to have erratic blood glucose levels, her curves were not consistent, and she was losing weight. I felt like a complete failure, I was letting her down. After joining forums and doing some research, I changed her insulin, and she did better. A month after switching insulin I changed her diet. As soon as her system adjusted to the new food, she gained back all the weight she had lost. We had our healthy Lu back.
While researching I learned that credible information was sparse, there was (and still is) a lot of misinformation easily available to us due to Dr. Google. I decided that I was going to give Lucy the very best care I could, and that meant that I needed to learn about type 1 diabetes. I read published studies about type 1 diabetes in dogs and humans, I read about canine nutrition. Eventually I felt comfortable enough with the knowledge I gained to help others. In January 2017 I accepted administrator role in a diabetic dog Facebook group, Diabetic Dog Owners. This decision catapulted me into a new life! Lucy was thriving, I was able to share my experiences and support group members, I met wonderful people that are like minded, I took nutrition courses, a veterinary assistant course, and the AAHA Diabetes Educator course. I also contacted PetTest (Advocate Meters at the time) and a wonderful relationship was born.
Education is important, empowerment is important. Put these two things together and you are the absolute best advocate for your diabetic dog.
I genuinely believe that statement and wanted to educate others so that diabetic dogs live long and healthy, normal lives. When I learned that the median lifespan of diabetic dogs was two years, it frustrated and saddened me. I dreamt about spreading the word but did not know exactly how to go about doing it. Then one day a group moderator, Alicia Belcher and I where chatting and she mentioned that she's designed courses online and would love to help create a learning platform for canine diabetes. It took me about 30 seconds to jump on her offer. We worked feverishly to get a Google Classroom set up and after about 60 hours of combined work we launched our baby. This course was a success and reached over 150 students in no time flat.
PetTest contacted us regarding the Google Classroom course, they felt it just as important as we did that education is key to winning the DM battle, and wanted to help us reach as many caregivers as possible. We brainstormed and quickly realized that our Google Classroom course would have to be moved to a platform that allowed us to have unlimited students with no expiration date. It was also important that the course remained free. Then something amazing happened, PetTest offered to sponsor the new learning platform and we graciously accepted. Alicia and I spent another 60 hours creating the DDOU Thinkific course and launched it publicly February 24th, 2020.
The DDO-U has become a "go to" for many people, it touches base on every canine diabetic issue, is easy to read and understand, and has received many 5-star reviews.
Since launching the DDO-U Thinkific course so much has happened, Lucy passed in March 2020 due to kidney failure at almost 16 years old. This loss devastated me, and I was not sure if I would be able to continue supporting other diabetic dog parents. But the more I thought about this journey; what I have learned, true friends I've gained, the love and support given and received, I realized that this is Lucy's legacy. There is a little piece of Lucy in every diabetic dog because their parents have learned how to better manage canine diabetes.
Alicia’s Story
My beloved rat-terrier/chihuahua mix, Stewie, developed diabetes in May of 2019. He was nine years old. He had a ravenous appetite, excessive thirst and urination, and quickly lost a third of his body weight. When Stewie was first diagnosed, he was sent home with a diet change only, meaning he was sent home without insulin. The vet suggested trying a diet change for a month and then repeating blood work. Two days later, Stewie was in DKA with a pancreatic flare. I took him back to the vet and demanded insulin and I wish I could say that was the day Stewie started getting better. Sadly, it was not. Stewie was started on a high carb commercial diet and an insulin dosage I would later learn was too high for his weight. His insulin dosage was increased a unit at a time after a single spot check at the vet until he was at two times the recommended dosage for his weight. His BG was consistently so high that the meter read "HI" every time we tested. I took Stewie back to the vet several times and even consulted a specialist but was eventually told Stewie needed to be euthanized because he was insulin resistant. I refused to accept this fate for him. I began reading and researching and eventually found DDO. I met Michelle and she helped me make the changes I needed to properly care for Stewie. I changed to a homecooked diet, decreased his insulin dosage, began daily home testing, and Stewie soon began to thrive. We are almost two years post-diagnosis and Stewie is happy and healthy!
I wanted to work with Michelle to create DDO-U because I did not want anyone else to feel as scared, alone, and uninformed as I did when Stewie was first diagnosed. I have a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Curriculum and Teaching and have developed many courses for many institutions. I was so happy to put these skills to use and work with Michelle to co-create DDO-U. Treating diabetes can be complicated and each diabetic pet is a unique experience. This is why it is so important to have all the information together in an organized, easy to navigate learning platform, and thanks to PetTest that platform is free for everyone! DDO-U provides the tools and information sugar parents need to get their dog back on track quicker.
It is my hope that DDO-U will improve the mean life expectancy of diabetic dogs. With so much misinformation out there, many dogs succumb to diabetes unnecessarily. My work in DDO-U is a tribute to my sweet sugar boy. Stewie is not your average dog. He has demonstrated that he is a true hero many times in his life. Most notably when my son stumbled into a nest of yellow jackets and quickly became covered in bees. Stewie rushed to him and began biting the bees from his legs. Stewie was soon covered nose to tail in a swarm of stinging yellow jackets, but my son no longer had a single bee on him. Stewie nearly died that day from countless stings, but thankfully, with emergency treatment, he survived. Stewie also put his life on the line to viciously attack an abuser even though he had never before and has never since even growled at anyone. Stewie is a gentle, selfless creature who is always showing us that he loves us more than he loves himself. For this, I will work tirelessly to care for him and show him every single day of his life how much he is treasured. When the day comes for him to cross the rainbow bridge, I know that a part of him will live on through the dogs and owners helped by DDO-U, and that is a beautiful thing.
We are so proud of the DDO-U course, it has helped educate many people and education extends the lifespan of our pups! We are constantly updating the learning platform, have added low protein food calculators and the entire course was just given a facelift (and I have to say it looks fabulous!)!
We want to celebrate the great success of the course and have gotten together with PetTest for a wonderful giveaway! Learners in the DDO-U Thinkific platform are automatically entered to win one of three prizes! Please be on the lookout for emails from the DDO-U Thinkific course and PetTest, we will also have the announcements on Facebook. Good luck!
Haven't joined our course yet? Take a look at PetTest's LEARN tab, or go to DDO-U.thinkific.com to join for free now!
If you are looking for a Facebook community to join for support, I have been an admin for Diabetic Dog Owners for four years. You can also join Canine Diabetes Support and Information on Facebook as well.
For more conversations, photos, and giveaways check out PetTest on Facebook and Instagram.