It all started when a friend suggested I create an Instagram and TikTok account for Korey to document his Diabetic Alert Dog training and our life together. To my surprise, a few weeks later, our videos went viral! Fast forward to now, where I am living my dream as a certified dog trainer!

Hi there! My name is Sam, and I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes when I was just four years old. As I got older, I found it increasingly challenging to manage my diabetes. Unfortunately, I lost the ability to sense when my blood sugar levels were too high or too low until it became a dangerous situation. About eight years ago, I got my first CGM that would alert me when my blood sugar levels reached a certain point. However, technology isn’t always reliable, and my husband and I are both heavy sleepers, so we don’t always hear the alarms at night. My husband, Michael, had to wake me up several times when my blood sugar levels had gone too low. Luckily, he was able to get enough sugar in me each time to bring me back to consciousness.

After those several close calls, my endocrinologist and I decided that a Diabetic Alert Dog (DAD) would be a great help in managing my blood sugar levels. That's when Korey, my DAD, came into our lives! Korey came home in July of 2019 when he was just two months old. We found a breeder who specialized in "working" Labrador Retrievers with a history of good scent training. She let us meet Korey a week after he was born, and I was able to bond with him as a tiny pup. I decided to train him on my own to recognize when my blood sugar levels dropped too quickly. Training Korey was so inspiring that I changed careers from teaching children to teaching dogs!

Dogs have always been a significant part of my life, and becoming a dog trainer is one of my proudest achievements! I hold three positive reinforcement trainer certifications: ISCDT, Victoria Stilwell Academy, and CPDT-KA. I am so lucky to do what I love and to help people build trust, confidence, and connection with their dogs!