FAQ’s
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Collaborative, honest, and straightforward. We're here to guide the process, bring iDiabetic Alert Dogs are our PASSION and our CALLING! Our motto is “Where a dog’s nose saves a life and embraces a heart!” We get it because we also LIVE DAILY WITH THIS DISEASE!
Personally, I was a dog trainer long before I became a diabetic. I eat, breathe, and live with diabetes and dogs every day of my life. I know what it is like have 26 dogs alert on you at the same time, it is VERY NOISY AND VERY ANNOYING!
One of our many specialties is finding the RIGHT DOG for you! Through the application, phone calls, and visits we learn to know WHO you are, WHAT your life is like, your strengths & weaknesses, and WHY you think a diabetic alert dog is right for you. We hope to guide you to making the right decision whether or not you end up with a diabetic alert dog! It may or may not be the right tool for you and your family!
How a Diabetic Alert Dog works DEPENDS A LOT ON YOU! You must have a STRONG DESIRE to own a Diabetic Alert Dog, truly LIKE and ENJOY dogs and work hard daily on managing your diabetes. A DAD is not ideal for every diabetic. A Diabetic Alert Dog will not work if you only have the DESIRE to have a diabetic alert dog; you must also truly NEED a diabetic alert dog. This means you must be AGGESSIVE in your attempts to control your blood glucose levels & work closely with your medical professional team. Yet despite all of your efforts, you may still have dangerous unexplained low and high blood glucose numbers.
So what does an IDEAL HOME for one of our Diabetic Alert Dogs look like?
An ideal candidate:
-MUST LOVE dogs
-MUST be insulin dependent
-MUST be able to meet the needs of the dog.
All dogs have PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, and EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. These dogs SAVE YOUR LIFE and DESERVE the best attention and care we have to offer. The estimated yearly expenses for maintaining a service dog are $1000 (depends on the area of the country you live in)
-Must provide adequate living accommodations. The home should be a loving, stable home.
-Must enjoy interacting with dogs
-Must have made aggressive attempts to control Blood Glucose levels and be under the supervision & advisement of a medical team. The diabetic should be monitoring and documenting their blood sugar levels.
-Must make a long-term commitment to maintaining the partnership with the DAD and with the Tattle Tail trainers.
-Must commit to maintaining contact with us after the dog is placed.
-Must be able to demonstrate the ability to be a responsible DAD handler in multiple environments
-Must demonstrate commitment to training and learning about dogs and diabetes!
We are very different from other diabetic alert agencies because many of us are T1 and have our own personal Diabetic Alert Dogs. As dog trainers we have combined knowledge and experience of over 75 years which covers many different venues from service dogs, hunting dogs (including hunt tests and field trials), agility training, obedience training, rally training, therapy dogs, tracking, and many other venues. We also have a licensed Certified Diabetic Educator and Nutritionist who works closely with us. She has been a T1 for over 35 years herself and understands personally the issues that go with diabetes and these dogs!
When you obtain a Tattle Tail dog or puppy; you not only get all of our years of experience as dog trainers, you also get our years of experience lived successfully with this disease. We want you to understand while we are about the dogs; we have to address all issues holistically in order to help you succeed.
At this point we want to stress to you while the benefits of having a Diabetic Alert Dog are immense there is a downside as well. You will gain a friend, a companion, and an early warning system that can make living with diabetes a little easier but at the same time it can present many difficult challenges. Challenges at this point you have not even considered! Challenges like ongoing training (there is no such thing as a fully finished dog…it is constant and ongoing), alerting when you don’t want to be alerted, alerting that wont stop (sometimes you can not do enough to either drop or raise your blood glucose fast enough), public access situations (always being stared at, getting questions, having to hear about someone’s great uncle who had both legs amputated because of diabetes, hearing every “cure” for diabetes out there…”you know if you drink vinegar once a day you wont have diabetes anymore”). There are also the small things like how do you carry not only all of your diabetic supplies but the supplies needed for your Diabetic Alert Dog. These are just a FEW of the many additional things you have to consider.
A Diabetic Alert Dog is HARD WORK!! When you are dealing with a difficult disease that plain and simple does not play fair, it can seem not only overwhelming but also utterly impossible. ARE YOU READY FOR ALL OF THIS?????
It sounds like we don’t want you to have one of our dogs doesn’t it? NOT TRUE, but we want you to go into this with your eyes WIDE OPEN!
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I am committing at this time to doing 2 to 4 litters per year. To do this the way that I believe needs to be done, it takes a lot out of me personally. I put my heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, and prayers into each litter, but I am also a T1 diabetic that juggles a full time job (must keep health insurance), dog training, conferences, and a whole host of other things on top of this. I also believe that good things come to those who wait. Our society has gotten to the “I want it now at no cost!" mindset. I don’t agree with that. A dog's love, devotion, and nose have to be earned through hard work not money!
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At this time I only breed Labs, but I have worked/trained many other breeds. There will always be a soft spot in my heart for the hunting and working breeds!
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Scent training starts the day the puppies are born with scent samples, and continues every day with the addition of every real time low chance I get until the day they go home. When the puppies are picked up you will be given the information and tools to continue scent training.
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I spend a lot of time with each individual puppy and they are evaluated by a professional puppy evaluator. After the pups are evaluated I take what the evaluator sees in each pup and what I see in each pup and match them with the family I feel is the best fit.
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After you submit an application, I will ask that you give me a call so we can chat. I want to answer any questions you have and address any special circumstances. I want to learn more about you and your family and give you a chance to get to know me! I also want a chance to discuss the application with my team. At that point I will also email a copy of the puppy deposit agreement and a copy of my health contract for you to read over. The puppy deposit agreement will need to be signed and returned to me with a $500 non-refundable deposit. You are then notified that you are on the list to get one of my extraordinary pups!
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Well if you count imprinting puppies with bird scent, since 1996. I volunteered at a local training and breeding kennel and one of my many duties was to make sure the pups were getting early exposure to bird scent and birds. Obviously, what I am doing today is far more in depth and precise than what I was doing then. My first official litter was born in March of 2011. I had played with diabetic scent work with pups that belonged to friends of mine in 2010, trying to shape what I wanted to build my program into.
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I had litters of hunting/trial dogs off and on from 1998.
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I own one female dog of breeding age. The majority of what I do is lease females from other dog owners (I pay them to use her for breeding) whose dogs have the qualities that I desire for alert dogs and have all genetic clearances. Being as active as I am in the dog world, I get the chance to see many wonderful dogs and make many awesome friends.
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In my opinion, and it has worked well for this program, I look for HEALTH (vet cleared), TEMPERMENT (I prefer a tad more of an extrovert to an introvert), TRAINABILITY (how easy is the dog to train? How well does dog deal with various environments?), PLEASABILITY (does the dog genuinely want to make you happy? Does he desire to make you happy even before his own needs and desires?), A GOOD NOSE (does the dog have above average ability to find scent, and does it attract his attention?), STRUCTURE (how well is the dog put together?) and HISTORY (meaning I look at the pedigree of his ancestors).
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For me it is their good nature, their ease to train, and their all around proven ability.
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Yes you can pay for additional training. I have trainers on hand that the puppy can live with to get the additional training that you feel it needs. If you are in the Salt Lake area you can take private lessons with me and currently group lessons are offered in the summer months.
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Absolutely! After the pups are born I have other diabetics come over to meet them. They are friends, future DAD owners, and current DAD owners. This not only helps to socialize the puppies but they will get to work any low that may occur while the guests are at my home.
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I have DAD’s all over the country. If you are interested in meeting one, please let me know and we will see if we can find one in your area that would be able to meet up with you and show you what they do and what you can expect.
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The dogs I currently use for breeding are titled hunting dogs that are also loved pets and members of the family. Soon we will have some DAD’s/working service dogs that will also be bred.
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Absolutely! My personal dogs all have AKC titles in many venues with a bare minimum of a Canine Good Citizen title, and various dogs have many advanced titles as well. Cheveyo, the father of many of my pups, has an MH, CD, and an RN, as well as being a service dog and a therapy dog!
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The wait can be as long as a year at this current time, but is usually closer to 6 months.
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Yes. We always have someone on our waiting list with 3 litters planned each year! So at this time, for me it's about finding the right dog for you and your family, not the amount of time spent waiting. The right dog is worth waiting for.
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Any person that purchases a puppy from me will have access to an online Facebook group full of other families who own my DAD’s. It is a wonderful 24/7 resource for support in self-training your puppy. I am part of the Facebook group myself, and also always available to help over the phone and in person whenever possible for the life of your DAD.
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Absolutely! Please contact me and I will be happy to provide you with names and contact info for those that have gone before you!
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Well, we all have to grow where we are planted until we are transplanted to grow elsewhere!
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TATTLE TAIL LLC
“Where a dog’s nose saves a life and embraces a heart!”
Tattle Tail LLC Hip/Health Guarantee - - - Please read carefully!!!!
Puppy Health Guarantee
Congratulations on your purchase of a Tattle Tail LLC puppy. Your puppy has been selectively-bred for excellent quality, health, soundness, intelligence, scenting ability and good temperament. We have worked hard since the birth of your pup to assure that you have the best possible puppy for you and your family!
Tattle Tail LLC continues to research and remove out of our breeding program as many other health issues as possible, beyond the conditions over which responsible breeders have some control, i.e. adequate hips and eyes. For some of these issues (such as allergies, cardiac problems, epilepsy, incorrect bites), there is not a "test", genetic marker, or data base of affected or producing Labradors.
Some health issues are significantly impacted by conditions in the dog's environment or there is only a "suspected" genetic basis but no clear-cut genetic pattern. For example, elbow problems do not have a clear genetic basis, and elbow x-rays are not always easy to read, even for the OFA. Often, elbow problems are due to minor puppy injuries, hard play or running, jumping off steps or a couch, playing Frisbee, leaping on sand at the beach, etc., all of which may appear harmless, but are not at this early stage of development. In addition, such conditions may be simply a fluke of Mother Nature, as we see with humans.
These issues mentioned above, without clear-cut genetic basis and a test and/or database for the condition, or those significantly affected by environmental factors, cannot be covered by Tattle Tail LLC’s health guarantee. Undescended testicles or female bladder or fertility problems are not guaranteed. For those items that we do not cover, we would under nearly all circumstances still accept return of the dog, without compensation.
Our general health guarantee is for 5 business days from the date of delivery, meaning that you are guaranteed to receive a healthy puppy. All further guarantees are outlined below!
Your puppy is guaranteed to be in good general health and free of congenital deformities as of the time you take possession of the puppy (unless otherwise agreed upon). For this guarantee to be in effect, you will need to take the puppy to your veterinarian within 5 days of receiving him/her. If your veterinarian feels the puppy is not as represented, please have him or her write a letter describing the problem. Then call us (801-598-2567) to make arrangements for returning the puppy. Should this puppy die from a genetic defect or should this puppy develop a life threatening genetic defect* within the health guarantee period, Tattle Tail L.L.C will replace the dog with another puppy of the same sex and value as soon as one becomes available. No cash refund will be offered (unless otherwise agreed upon in writing). Tattle Tail LLC will not be held responsible for any veterinary bills incurred.
Since Tattle Tail LLC has no control over the puppy's new environment, this general health guarantee will not be in effect after the 5 days has expired, and will not cover problems caused by neglect (poisoning, accidents, etc.), or exposure to other sick dogs, even during the first 5 days. If your puppy develops diarrhea, it is likely due to stress, water change, food changes or over-feeding. If it continues more than a couple days, the puppy should be checked by a vet, particularly for the protozoan parasites, coccidia and giardia, which are common in the environment and easily treated.
Puppy Hip/Eye Guarantee
Tattle Tail LLC breeds their dogs in an effort to significantly reduce the possibility of genetic hip and eye problems, however, due to reasons beyond our control, these problems still occur. If these health problems arise in a dog purchased from Tattle Tail LLC, the following puppy replacement agreement applies:
Hip Guarantee:
If the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, INC) finds the dog to be dysplastic, in order to qualify for a replacement the following must be fulfilled:
A. KC Owens is to receive a copy of the hip x-ray and a copy of the OFA written report.
B The dogs AKC registration number and the microchip or tattoo number must be reported to OFA at the time test results are submitted for evaluation. It is also recommended that these identification numbers be noted on the x-rays when they are submitted to OFA.
C. If the dog is found to be dysplastic, the dog will be replaced after the return of the dog to KC Owens and the dogs registration papers are to be signed over to Tattle Tail LLC.
D. All freight charges are to be paid for by the owner, for both the replacement puppy as well as the dog that is returned.
E. The OFA shall be the sole judge regarding hip dysplasia.
F. Purchaser agrees to provide proof that the dog has been spayed/neutered prior to replacing dog with another dog from like breeding.
This guarantee is void if the dog has an traumatic accident such as being hit by a vehicle or large fall, or any injury resulting in a damaged leg.
Eye Guarantee:
If the CERF(Canine Eye Registration Foundation) finds the dog to have bad eyes, in order to qualify for a replacement the following must be fulfilled:
A. Tattle Tail LLC is to receive a copy of the examination from the Ophthalmologist and a copy of the CERF report.
B. If the dog is found to have a congenital defect before 26 months, the dog will be replaced after the return of the dog to Tattle Tail LLC and the dogs registration papers are to be signed over to Tattle Tail LLC.
C. All freight charges are to be paid for by the owner, for both the replacement puppy as well as the dog that is returned.
D. The CERF shall be the sole judge regarding congenital eye problems.
F. Purchaser agrees to provide proof that the dog has been spayed/neutered prior to replacing dog with another dog from like breeding.
SCENT ABILTY/TRAINING
The client acknowledges that it is accepted that dog training and breeding will not provide exact results. Each dog is different in regards to ability, intelligence and temperament. Tattle Tail LLC makes no expressed, or implied guarantee, to the possible results reached through training or to the level of competency reached by said pup provided.