Ankeny student gets diabetic alert dog: “He became a part of our family so quickly”

ANKENY, Iowa — The school year is quickly coming to an end, and for one student and his new friend, the lessons learned this year could be life-saving.

The workload in Mr. Cooper’s world culture class at Northview Middle School is easing, but this is just the beginning of a new friendship between Hunter Bishop and “Chuckles.”

“Having a dog in school doesn’t happen often,” Hunter said, “but I mean, it’s kind of fun to always have a different friend with me.”

Chuckles is more than a friend. He is also Hunter’s diabetes alert dog.

“Chuckles comes in and some days I don’t even know the dog is there,” said teacher Cody Cooper. “So it’s been a positive addition for us.”

The two came together because Hunter’s mother wanted to find another way to help her son, who is just starting school, manage his type 1 diabetes.

“Sometimes he gets really low and he doesn’t know it,” Jenna Bishop explains. “He just keeps playing, running around, and when he’s out there with the boys playing ball, he doesn’t care.”

She knew that a diabetes alert dog would help Hunter keep track of his blood sugar levels, but she didn’t know how expensive such a dog would be.

“The average diabetic alert dog can cost between $20,000 and $30,000. But this was significantly less expensive,” Bishop said. “Our family would never be able to afford something like this if we didn’t have the foundation’s help.”

The Ron and Vicki Santo Foundation is named after the professional baseball player who also had diabetes. Its mission is to fund the training of diabetic alert dogs through Bark to Basics in Arizona. Bishop says only about a dozen dogs are adopted each year, and Hunter was one of the lucky few.

“I think it was maybe Christmas when I got the call from my mom and they said they had a dog and we might be good candidates,” Hunter said.

“For some reason we were selected,” Bishop said, “and we picked him up in Arizona and he was great.”

The two first met during spring break, but Chuckles knew immediately who Hunter was. That was because Hunter sent in saliva samples with different blood sugar levels, and Chuckles’ nose was trained to detect the smell.

“So he can sense the ups and downs to come before technology can even tell us,” Bishop said.

Chuckles then nudges Hunter to tell him to check his blood sugar.

“That means if my blood sugar is too high, I have to inject insulin, and if my blood sugar is too low, I have to find a snack,” Hunter said.

The change from student to teacher was a transition, but the half days were a good balance for both of them before the summer holidays.

“Chuckles will be with me every day until I graduate,” Hunter said, “and he’ll be with me everywhere afterward.”

A constant that gives inner peace and a friendship that has become more.

“I know there’s someone out there who cares for Hunter, not just my husband and me,” Bishop said. “He became part of our family so quickly, and we needed him.”

Chuckles’ next lesson is to go fishing with Hunter and his friends this summer before accompanying him to the Ankeny Centennial in the fall.

Click the links to learn more or to donate to the Ron & Vicki Santo Diabetic Alert Dog Foundation or Bark to Basics.