A Bite and Bark That Saved a Life

The training for diabetic-alert dogs is not unlike the education provided to guide dogs for the visually impaired. But instead of learning to act as someone's guide, the animals are schooled to sense when their handlers' blood sugar is too high or low.

A beagle's sense of smell is many hundreds of times as strong as a human's. During her training, Belle was taught to lick Weaver's nostrils to smell his breath, reading his ketone level. If something isn't right, Belle knows to start scratching Weaver's leg, warning him to adjust his sugar levels before a seizure comes on. For a worst-case scenario, Belle was taught to bite down on Weaver's cellphone -- specifically on the number 9, which is programmed to dial 911.

The training was costly -- about $9,000 for nine months of intensive schooling -- but as it happened, it was worth every penny the morning of Feb. 7.

Weaver awoke feeling dizzy and nauseated. And Belle knew there was a problem.

"She started scratching at me and whining," Weaver recalled. "I thought maybe she had to go to the bathroom, not hitting on what was going on. I took her outside and brought her back in, and that's when I had the seizure."

It was the first seizure Weaver had had since Belle had completed her trained about eight months earlier. Weaver had wondered if any dog could be relied on to do a job that some adults would be too panicked for in a crisis.

But once Weaver collapsed, Belle was on it.

Weaver was discharged from the hospital that night. His first stop was a steakhouse, where he and Belle both enjoyed dinner.

His seizures have forced Weaver to give up his job with the airline. These days he works at Walt Disney World, where, years ago, he was employed to work with Pluto, one of the most famous dog characters, though hardly as smart as Belle.

Recently Disney arranged for Weaver to have a front-desk job where he could work with Belle, clad in her medical assistance vest, at his feet.

Belle will share the stage at Union Station with six of the 30 VITA award winners tonight. They include Jim Addington of Frederick, who used an Airfone on a commercial flight to talk with doctors on the ground and help a passenger suffering from a pulmonary embolism; and 10-year-old Josh Hartman of Silver Spring, who saved his father's life with a 911 call on a Firefly, a phone designed for children.

Weaver is certain of one thing about his dog.

"She loves me and I love her," Weaver said, talking on his cellphone. "She's my best friend, that's for sure."