Logan and Lucky: A Boy and his Diabetic Alert Dog

For any family, the arrival of a new puppy brings about numerous changes that can alter their everyday life.

But for South Brunswick's Fech family, a new pup has brought about a near-miraculous and potentially life-saving change to their daily lives.

Many Patch readers are familiar with the. The disease requires Logan to have his blood sugar checked throughout the day and night, to the point that Logan's mother said her son was frightened just to go to sleep should his level rise or fall too much.

After  in just under two months, enough money was raised to purchase a $20,000 diabetic alert dog for the family. On Feb. 13, the Fech family welcomed their newest member, a four-month old diabetic alert Labrador named Lucky.

"It's been absolutely amazing and he's already started alerting us when Logan's blood sugar goes too high or too low," said Logan's mother Meghan Fech. "Lucky alerted us to severe low blood sugar Logan had at a time when we wouldn't normally have checked his level. He's proven himself to be a life-saver already. Diabetes is manageable, but it's also unpredictable, and Lucky is an extra set of eyes to watch over him and keep him safe."

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the cells in the pancreas that make insulin are destroyed. As a result, people with diabetes need to keep a close eye on the total amount of carbohydrates in their diet. The highly trained diabetic alert canines are able to detect significant changes in blood sugar just through the sense of smell.

After they detect a drop or increase in blood sugar, the dogs are trained to alert a diabetes patient or parent to the problem 20 to 30 minutes before any machine could pick up the change in sugar level.

"Right now there are a couple of different signs Lucky gives us, like he'll give us his paw or his demeanor changes," Meghan said. "Sometimes he barks, which is not exactly the alert we want him to give, but you can see his demeanor change when the levels drop or rise. The most common alert he does is giving us his paw, but we'll eventually teach him to nudge us with his nose for low blood sugar and give us his paw for high blood sugar."

The Fechs first picked up on a potential problem with Logan when he was 3-years-old, as they noticed he was often very thirsty and would frequently wet through his pull-up diapers and his bedding. 

Prior to Lucky's arrival, the disease created numerous hardships for the family as they sought to normalize Logan's life. The Fechs set their alarm for midnight and 3 a.m. each night to make sure Logan's blood sugar stays regulated. Logan is also on an insulin pump and gets his finger prick checks before every meal.

"Lucky has already been life changing and will be even moreso when the alerts get more frequent as he trains," Meghan said last week. "At this point he's at about 50 percent accuracy with his alerts. But the last two nights he alerted us to severely low blood sugar. Normally we give Logan a bedtime snack, and he had a normal blood sugar level. Last night Lucky started alerting us that his blood sugar had dropped, so we checked it and it was 34, which is very low. At that point it can cause convulsions, seizures or death.

"He's already proven to be a life saver. Lucky has given Logan more confidence. He's not scared to go to sleep at night anymore."

A trainer from the Guardian Angel Service Dogs will continue to work with Lucky periodically over a two-year span. But even from their first meeting, Meghan said Logan and Lucky immediately cast the classic image of a boy and his dog.

"They just bonded right away," she said. "When we were waiting for the trainer to arrive with the dog, Logan was all smiles. You can already see the bond between them. They both knew immediately that they were each other's pals."

When news about the Fech's efforts to purchase an alert dog spread last year, the family received aid from throughout the community. Logan's baseball team and the Kendall Park Fire Company held fundraisers, Logan's school  South Brunswick schools eventually donated $4,000, while Logan's former daycare Rainbow Academy donated $2,000.

Even young children touched by Logan's story got involved, like 8-year-old  who raised $200 selling snow cones and other snacks for 50-cents.

The Fechs still found themselves about $8,000 short, when an anonymous donor provided the remaining funds for the appropriately named Lucky.

"For a couple of nights after he got here I was just lying in bed thinking I can't believe we did this," Meghan said. "It didn't seem real. We are so grateful for the support from our family, friends, the school community and entire community. These complete strangers did so much for us, and when we got that last $8,000 from a stranger, it was just a dream come true. When we first started out I didn't think it would be possible. Once people heard the story they were so generous. We are forever grateful and don't know how to thank everyone for everything they've given us."