The Healthy Celiac Podcast

From Celiac Diagnosis to Dog: Kendra's Journey with a Gluten Detection Service Dog Ep. 164

• Belinda Whelan, Kendra Williams • Season 1 • Episode 164

Share episode

Send a one-way text message. Ask a Question or message me your feedback. Be sure to leave your name too if you'd like a shoutout on the Podcast.

Could a dog actually change your life by detecting gluten? Join us on the Healthy Celiac Podcast as we uncover Kendra Williams' extraordinary journey with celiac disease and her unexpected hero, Suki, the gluten detection dog.
Kendra opens up about her perplexing symptoms, like chronic bronchial issues and an ongoing cough, which led to her diagnosis in 2017. She shares the transformative impact of going gluten-free and the ongoing battle with other health complications. Discover how a late diagnosis shaped her life and meet Suki, who ensures Kendra stays on track with her health.

Ever wondered what it takes to train a service dog to sniff out gluten? Kendra takes us behind the scenes of this rigorous process, starting from selecting the right breeder to the dual aspects of foundational training and specific skill development. Hear about the daily commitment and meticulous work involved in preparing a dog to support a handler in various situations. Learn how Suki's training journey involved teaching essential public manners and perfecting the gluten detection skill through short, repetitive sessions and progressively challenging environments.

Navigating public spaces with a service dog brings its own set of challenges and rewards. Kendra shares her real-life experiences of encountering restaurant staff and educating the public about the crucial role of service dogs and their legal rights. We highlight the significance of respect and understanding from the public, stressing the importance of not distracting working dogs. Kendra's story shares the lifelong benefits of having a gluten detection dog and the dedication required to maintain their skills, offering valuable insights for anyone considering this unique partnership.

You can connect with Kendra at the following sites:
Website www.sukipwd.com
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sukipwd/?img_index=1
Facebook https://m.facebook.com/sukipwd
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sukipwd?_t=8mlkLYY534Z&_r=1
YouTube https://youtube.com/@sukipwd?si=z0prv1-bi61WAC7P


Find out how Ultimate Celiac System can support your Celiac journey here
https://belindawhelantraining.com/ultimate-celiac-system

Wish you could get gluten free meals on the table fast that the whole family will love? Check out Meal Plans Made Easy
https://belindawhelantraining.com/gluten-free-meal-plans-made-easy

 Join my free community and grab your copy of 11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free here www.belindawhelan.myflodesk.com/11mistakes

Check out my Daily Health Tracker here
HEALTH TRACKER | The Healthy Celiac (belindawhelan.com)

So happy to be featured in Feedspots Top 10 Celiac Disease Podcasts
https://blog.feedspot.com/celiac_disease_podcasts/

And I would love to connect with you on Instagram thehealthy

Speaker 1:

All right, welcome back to the Healthy Celiac Podcast. I'm super excited today to be talking to Kendra Williams, who's all the way over the other side of the world today in San Diego, and she is here to tell us about her amazing journey with celiac disease. But what I'm super excited to learn from Kendra is all about her gluten detection dog that she personally trained, and learn all about how Suki is supporting her on her celiac journey. So welcome to the show, kendra. It's great to have you here.

Speaker 2:

So glad to be here. Belinda, thank you so much for having me. It's so exciting to talk to you in Australia and talk to all your listeners, and super excited to share with you guys.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic, thank you. So if you want to just let us know first of all about your celiac journey because I know it was a little interesting for you how you got your diagnosis and what some of your symptoms were so do you mind sharing with our listeners about that?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. So I would say I was fairly non-traditional. I mean, obviously, learning about celiac disease. There's over 200 symptoms and they're very varied. Mine were completely different than the typical. So I actually was really really sick for a long time. I had terrible I always. My whole life I've had really bad bronchial problems, so like asthma and allergies, and I would get bronchitis, you know, a couple of times a year and and things like that. But this year I just could not shake it and I had a cough for months on end like terrible, like a bad bronchitis cough mean it was so bad I had to sleep sitting up.

Speaker 2:

That was how bad it was and and I went to tons of different doctors and everything and nobody could tell me what was wrong with me and they were like it's acid reflux, okay, take these meds. And then, finally, I went to an integrated doctor and he was like you've got a big problem with gluten, and he was then the one that ultimately ended up diagnosing me with celiac disease. So, and before that I'd had anemia, you know. Now you look back.

Speaker 2:

I had anemia and they tested for everything under the sun with the anemia and then they just put it off. That it was. You know it was just female health related and you know that was just part of part of the. You know the way it was just take some iron and you'll feel better. And yeah, so it. So it was. You know, looking back you can see lots of stuff so. So the challenge was then I went, so I went gluten-free and then several months later my cough was gone.

Speaker 1:

It significantly improved over time.

Speaker 2:

It's not a traditional symptom, but there is literature that says people have had coughs and stuff like that. When you think about it, the lining of your lungs it's the same kind of cells that you know are inside the intestines and everything like that and it was just so bad, yeah. And then and then I've had other health issues too prior. A lot of times, autoimmune diseases go in multiples. I had thyroid issues 20 years ago and thyroid cancer and had my thyroid removed. So you know who's to say? I do have two of the genes I have the DQ8 and DQ2. So you know, I don't know what or not I was just diagnosed in 2017. So it wasn't. You know, I was, I was fully an adult, and so you look back and you look at all those things and go oh, you know.

Speaker 2:

I remember as a kid laying on the ground after eating a pasta dinner and feeling like somebody was stabbing me in the in the stomach and you know going. Oh, I probably. You know my, my family was like oh, you probably ate too much, that's your problem. You know, so who's to say?

Speaker 2:

You know, I don't know, and probably the year prior to my diagnosis I had a lot of weird days where I'd be up in the morning and then you have to like go throw up like randomly. So you just don't know how much of it like my body just reached that, that cap you know, and then it was just shutting down.

Speaker 2:

So so, since going gluten-free, significant improvement in my health, um, and my abilities, it's, it's it's like an onion though, you know, especially as somebody that was diagnosed late in life you have, where there's other health issues, you know there's other things. There's gut issues, where you know I've had things where I've gone back to the doctor and they found, you know, I had H pylori and as many people do, you know we kind of are like, oh well, I'm sick again, maybe I got gluten, and so I thought that a lot at the beginning and then after getting suki I knew I'm like I'm not getting gluten.

Speaker 2:

So then it helped me kind of dig further into my issues and stuff like that and, you know, continue to fine tune my health and address other issues. But it's been an interesting journey for sure with celiac disease. But I'm so glad to have figured out that that was the problem with me.

Speaker 1:

Yes, absolutely, and so many people struggle for so long. Like your story is quite similar to my mom's that she was a young kid and she had the stomach pains and everyone was just like, oh, that's just born, that's just, and it was just accept it, people just accept it as your normal, but then when you reflect on it, like you said, you just know that that's, that's not normal. And there were signs there and people aren't picking up on them and it's really interesting that they didn't test you for celiac disease with the anemia, because so many people that I work with say that they had no other symptoms but anemia and that was what got them a celiac diagnosis.

Speaker 2:

I don't think they did. I mean I'd have to go back and look at my paperwork. They tested me for tons of stuff. I mean they had said, oh there's. I mean they weren't really scared that there was some various like you might have leukemia. They told me all this stuff and I'm you know afterwards I go it could have saved me a lot of heartache and and um.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, I don't. I it's weird that they that they didn't. And the anemia did um go away. I ended up having I had um, I had, I had a hysterectomy and after that then I wasn't anemic anymore. So that solved the problem. But but it's just one of those where you go it's, it's, you just don't know. And I did have a triggering event too. I was in a ski accident in 2015 and tore my ACL, and so I was, I, I was pretty, I was pretty hurt. So it was kind of, you know, major knee surgery, acl, like three months recovery kind of a thing just trying to get better. So I don't know if that was like the trigger, because after that my health really did go downhill pretty quickly.

Speaker 1:

So, okay, it's interesting, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, wow, and Suki's just made an appearance on screen. For those of you watching on YouTube, but listening at home you won't be able to see, but Suki is a beautiful black dog. What type of dog is she? She?

Speaker 2:

is a Portuguese water dog. So she's a four years old, four-year-old Portuguese water dog and we just came back from our walk so we can't tell she's got her harness on. So I don't want you to think does she just lay around at that house with the harness on? But she is laying back there? So yeah, she's a four-year-old Portuguese water dog and I got her. Well, I had heard about loot detection dogs and I thought that's something interesting. And I had an older dog. I had a senior dog that I knew wasn't going to use. It was 16.

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow it wasn't going to be around very much longer. And so I was like, you know, I really do like having dogs and I, I'd like to, you know, for my next dog I really would like to get a get a gluten detection dog. And the challenge was that I, you know, you just don't know what to do and I was getting sick every time I went out. And for my work I traveled a lot and had a lot of, you know, business meetings that were food related and dinners and trade shows and things like that, and it just was to the point where it was really impacting my life and I thought this dog would really help.

Speaker 2:

And so when the pandemic happened and I traveled so much, so then I was like, how am I going to train this dog when I'm traveling? And then it happened and I was like, well, now's your time, and it was kind of perfect timing. And then I started down the path of training her and I trained her with the help of the through the process, the issues, and then I did some. I did some local training, like puppy classes and things like that, with people here, although that was somewhat limited because of COVID, because things weren't happening there, but but all the training I did with her was here, just her and I.

Speaker 1:

Wow, it's incredible. So talk us through that process. So it is it mainly puppies that you can train, or can you do it with older dogs?

Speaker 2:

you, you theoretically can do it with older dogs. I recommend I mean there's a lot of stuff I know now yeah, that I they didn't know then, and there's things I did that I would not recommend. I do recommend with a puppy because the challenge is the older the dog is, you're having to retrain bed habits too.

Speaker 2:

Like most dogs aren't super cautious about. You know they might lick food off a plate or things like that. That's hard. You have to retrain that where you start from a puppy. Hey, when you have a bowl or a plate or a cup, you don't eat off of it, you eat off of your bowl, so that those, those kind of pieces, but then you also have the life. So the process takes like two years to train wow, two years, goodness yeah it's two years.

Speaker 2:

So if you started with you know an older dog and you train for two years and then at what point are they going to be ready to retire?

Speaker 2:

Because, it is physically demanding for them, not only just the sniffing and things like that, but you know, if they're going out with you places, if you're traveling, you know that is it's a lot more. Most dogs are laying around most of the time, unless they're working on a farm or a ranch or you know something like that, but most dogs that are house pets they're laying on the couch 90% of the time. So you have that. It also depends on the breed and things like that. It's best to train from a puppy that you select and I recommend working with a trainer to find a good breeder and finding a, you know, really selecting the dog, having somebody test the puppy to see if they're going to be right, because nothing's guaranteed when you train these dogs.

Speaker 2:

You know something could happen. They could have health issues, they could have issues on the. You know during the training where they're. Just you know they don't like it or they're not cut out for it. Or you know, sometimes you have dogs going through the training and they get to a point where they can do at-home work, but they're not, they never pass the in public access work and that those kind of things do happen.

Speaker 2:

But when you work and get kind of those qualities ahead of time with the trainer and then figure out, okay, the breeder, this is the dog that I want, and then you have somebody that knows what they're doing, test for those features, okay, and see, you know, hey, how, how does that dog respond to you know things like loud noises, and how are they when you touch them, how do they engage?

Speaker 2:

So an example that I use a lot is when and I did not do this full disclosure with Suki I got super lucky because I knew just enough and the breeder ended up showing me two dogs. She goes okay, I'll let you choose between two, because I know it's going to be a service dog, and we were thinking all along she was like this boy is the one for you. This boy is the one for you. So she brought me out a boy and we were thinking all along she was like this boy is the one for you, this boy is the one for you. So she brought me out a boy and a girl. That boy it's funny when you look at the video. He wanted nothing to. He's like chewing on something in the corner, wanted nothing to do with me and she was eyes on me the whole time and was like running, so she chose you she chose me

Speaker 2:

so you know he would have not really been that way because it wasn't attentive to me, so I left out. For sure she chose me. Um, you know. But but if you work with a breeder that breeds for those types of characteristics so temperament, you know energy levels, interest and and you know really good breeders that are working on traits and qualities and and also health I mean health is super important you don't want a dog that's going to have a lot of health issues, and that's that's a hard part. When you hear people. You know, when you get a rescue or something like that, that then all of a sudden they have some kind of serious health issue. And and that's really important, when you have a service dog, because you've invested so much time and energy, and obviously they're more than just a dog- they're they're a lifeline.

Speaker 2:

They're absolutely your partner every day?

Speaker 1:

yeah, definitely. So talk us through what that training kind of looks like. When you say it takes two years, that's, that's an incredible amount of dedication. Like you said, you were home with covid, perfect timing, so what does that actually look like? So when you're training, I know I've seen videos of you where you give suki treats and things when she does a good job, and you know how does that actually work. Talk us through that so.

Speaker 2:

So it's kind of two different sets of training. So you have foundational training manners and behavior and and things like that. That's going to be like you would do for a pet dog, but then extra. So you you're going to have more things like how to ride in public transit and you know how to act appropriately around, how to settle in busy environments and things like that. You know if you're in a classroom or a business meeting or something like that. So those are. So those are basic foundational skills that you're doing and those are ongoing. So those are things you're training every single day, literally all day, because you have to make sure you're not rewarding bad habits and things like that. Um, so those that's something ongoing you do every day. Then you are also doing everyday gluten detection pieces and the way the process works.

Speaker 2:

So you're not working with a trainer every day. A trainer you're usually meeting one to two times a week, depending on the age of the puppy. Um, you know, a half hour at a time kind of a thing, it's not. So maybe an hour an hour a week, every single week. Puppies have really short attention spans, you know, and it gets older, so you can't do an hour long lesson and most training is short bursts. You're going to do just a quick. You're going to do something for five repetitions.

Speaker 2:

You know and that's it, and then you're done, because they their attention span. You know it's like small children. You have to do that so. So you start with you know introducing the gluten, and then you work on that and you work on the alerts that go along with it, and then you do no gluten and then kind of combination of both and then you can start adding in foods to it. So you work as you go. So it's every day you're training with something. So it's a different thing and it doesn't happen quickly Like you think. You know. Okay, I'm going to go out.

Speaker 2:

If you're learning a skill, you learn how to ride a bike you know, okay, maybe we're going to do that for a few days and you got that, but maybe it's a few weeks. This is repetition after repetition and it's you move in a sequence. So you start with you know them just finding it and smelling it in its large amounts, and then you continue to add complexity to it. Then you're going to have the alert that goes along with it and then you're going to add, you know, more food and then you decrease the gluten and it goes all the way down to tiny amounts of gluten. So we train down to trace amounts of gluten, which is basically gluten that's left over on a piece of paper which I can show you.

Speaker 1:

That's some of my stuff right here. That's incredible, isn't it for safety? Like that's just amazing, and I think this would play such a huge role In so many people's lives, so I don't know if you can see, but this is a piece of.

Speaker 2:

It's like two pieces of parchment paper, Yep, and those had had basically like a dough ball of gluten sitting on them for a very short period of time. And then Ruki's excited because I haven't touched that.

Speaker 1:

Like a toy.

Speaker 2:

This is her favorite game. She'll stand here and I know we're not going to do it. She's standing there like crying, wanting me to do it, and so we still. You go all the way through that and then you add more complexity where you do training at home, but then you train outside. Add more complexity where you do training at home, but then you train outside. So if I'm training, you know, behavioral is easy for me to talk about your training like laying down at your feet underneath the chair.

Speaker 2:

You practice that at home right for a long period of time. So they're comfortable, they'll sit, they'll lay for a long time. Then you might go into a little bit busier area, you know, maybe it's a park with not much traffic. Then you practice it.

Speaker 2:

Then you would practice, you know, at a coffee shop that doesn't have much traffic you know, at a weird hour, so there might be a handful of people, but so the difficulty keeps increasing. That makes sense. And then you would go to a busier restaurant. Same thing with grocery stores. So each one of you keep adding on the difficulty as you go. But each step of that has to, has to build.

Speaker 2:

And then if you don't have success you have to go back. So it's just it's. It's. It's kind of like a video game where you don't pass a level and you got to go back. Yeah, that's exactly how it is, including the same way. So you train the basics for gluten and you do all that, and then you're also training in public and things like that. So you have, you might have, the skills really firmly here, and I think most people would probably.

Speaker 2:

You know well, yeah, at home, when I call my dog in the backyard, my dog comes right. Their recall is really good. But if I'm at the dog park and I call my dog, he doesn't listen to me at all. And that's the thing we have to get those skills to where they're built in, no matter the environment. Um, and dogs I mean the thing about dogs is in detection dogs nobody's a hundred percent. They're dogs. They're gonna have good days, they're gonna have bad days, yeah, and there's days of those days when, like Suki, you gotta listen to me. Like come on, yeah, stop sniffing that bush. But um, so we kind of, we kind of moved through that fantastic.

Speaker 1:

So how does it look? Let's just put it through a situation for our listeners. So let's just say you were to go out for a meal, do you? Do you go out to that restaurant and you order a meal, as you should for celiac disease, and then Suki's like a backup plan, or talk us through that and how that works and how she detects the gluten for you.

Speaker 2:

Yes. So I wish that I could say and I think when I entered into this, I thought oh, it's going to be like it was, it's going to be normal, it's going to be normal, Life's going to be normal again. It is not. Yeah, it it it. You still have to do the research on the restaurant, you still have to call ahead and look at the menus and, you know, ask all the questions when you're in the restaurant.

Speaker 2:

But the beauty is so the food comes. She checks the plate plate so I would hold the plate out to her. She sniffs around the plate and then she will boop her nose to my knee, my leg, if it's gluten-free and she will sit and raise a paw if it's gluten, and the relief that you feel after that is unbelievable. I have to say. After being diagnosed and I didn't realize what a mental load that was, that fear of eating every single, you know, that fear of it's Russian roulette. I mean, it's a 50-50 chance that I'm going to get sick, and that was basically every single time I went out to eat, unless it was something I cooked myself or a dedicated gluten-free restaurant. You know, and I mean frankly, I've gotten sick off stuff that I've had at home.

Speaker 2:

So it's still, there's still you know, but but just to be able to sit and enjoy a meal yeah without worry is huge.

Speaker 2:

So that's the, that's the insurance policy I would say. The other area where it's been super helpful for me is that, um, she also checks on my medicine. So in the united States, no medicines are not labeled for any allergens. So it's super challenging. And one of the things last ones before Sufi was fully trained I was on some antibiotics and I took one and I was super sick and I thought I had food poisoning. I thought it was a little strange because it was COVID and I was home and I only ate food that I'd made.

Speaker 2:

But I thought well, you know, sometimes you get bad. You know vegetables or something like that, and yeah. So then the next day I took that same pill and then I realized 15 minutes later I feel the same as I did yesterday and it never occurred to me that it was the day before. Because that's crazy. So I still have that bottle of pills, I keep it. Um, and after CP was fully trained probably a few months later, because she was already in training I had her check it and they, they have gluten in them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, incredible and I was sick for two weeks after that. So she saved me a couple times from medicine that time and then another time on medicine, which that's another thing. That's a huge relief because I don't have to worry that that's going to make me sick either.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's amazing. What a little lifesaver. That's incredible. So, how do staff receive you? So when you go to a restaurant, how do they react? Because it's not common Like I've never come across a gluten detection dog here in Australia and I just think it's such an incredible thing to come across. So how are people receiving you?

Speaker 2:

when you go out. It's super interesting. It varies, I would say. Sometimes we get some pushback because there are a lot of fake service dogs or people, just especially where I live in California. Really, people go everywhere with their pets all the time and so some places are just tired of it and then they're like well, your dog can't come, and then I'm like but she's a service dog, so I have to sometimes fight a little bit more and explain the law and you know that she can go. That is pretty rare, I mean, it doesn't happen all the time, so that's a good thing. When otherwise I get a lot of interest in it, people are excited about her. It's funny. You can see on some of my videos people will comment they're like because people are watching you and it's like servers from the restaurants and so a lot of times they'll stand there and make sure. I do think sometimes it helps them be a little more conscientious about the food.

Speaker 2:

I wondered that yeah you know I have this severe, you know gluten allergy. I always say allergy because they they take it more seriously that way. And you know I do say I have celiac disease. I said severe, severe gluten allergy. My gluten detection dog will check it and then they're kind of like oh, and in places that really do it well and feel a sense of pride in it it's super interesting Because they'll be like what did we do? Did we?

Speaker 2:

get a good grade and they'll stand there and watch it. So it kind of depends, but for the most part, really, really positive.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, oh, that's amazing. Yeah, very, very cool. And what about? So? I know that with other service dogs, you know it's not encouraged to approach them and pat them, and you know, give them attention and that type of thing. Is it the same with Suki? Is it that people need to just give her space, let her do her work and just leave her be? How does that look?

Speaker 2:

yes, yes, and that unfortunately doesn't always happen. I would say sometimes it does. I it's never like the kids are always super respectful. It's usually the you know the women walking in the grocery store that are like making kissy noises at her. And hey, because it's not me usually they talk to. It's her actually a cutie? And she's doing a lot of work, like just even navigating a grocery store. I mean, you think about it. She's gotta stay out of the way of the cart next to me. The people, um, you don't think about things until you have a service dog. How many poles there are, you know, in in displays and things like that. Like I have to realize too, oh, I need to be careful and navigate, um, and then she's working really hard, the amount of energy she needs to expand to do the gluten detection, even though she does it, it's seconds, yeah, it's still brain power like that's a lot of thinking like doing a really high level comprehension task.

Speaker 2:

For us. That's kind of what the dogs are doing, so all of that takes concentration and when people talk to her it's hard. Now she's only working when, um, she's checking right, I mean in a grocery store. That's when I really don't like people to talk, because grocery shopping is hard. Right, you're, you're, you, you have a mission as. So that's like I'm looking, I'm trying, and a lot of times you're just trying to be as efficient as possible. I got to get something on the list. I have to go home because I got to make dinner, so I prefer not to.

Speaker 2:

But if I'm, for example, you know I'm at church or something like that and she goes with me to church, or I'm at a business meeting that I've gone to, I will always let people talk to me. You always want to talk to the handler, not to the dog, and you ask permission before because it will be distracting to the dog. The other thing is suvi is a gluten detection dog, but most service dogs, you know, you don't know where they are, like her best I have. It says gluten deception, but and many dogs can have multiple tasks. So you don't know.

Speaker 2:

And a lot of times people look, I mean, you look at me, you go oh, I didn't know. You know you look well and a lot of people are young and fit but they might have a seizure dog or a cardiac alert dog or you know a diabetes dog that's going to do a blood sugar alert. Those ones you 100% don't want to distract that dog, because if that dog gets distracted that means they're not smelling, because most of them are also detecting off the handler's body, um, since they may miss an alert and somebody with a heart condition, they're falling on the floor and they're going to hurt themselves badly, right?

Speaker 2:

So that's why I say never talk to the dog, just talk to the handler and be sensitive, because there are also, you know, ptsd dogs, anxiety, you know psychiatric dogs. Those are not going to be labeled and somebody like that may have autism dogs. You know they're not going to want to talk. I, I have no problem.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I, I do this all the time on social media and I want to educate people and I I have a little card. I'll give you a card. If I can't talk, then I'll give you more information about suki, but but I'm happy to, like I said, at church or at different things, I'll let people greet her and stuff like that. And she loves it. Like for her, she loves people.

Speaker 2:

It's super exciting for her and so that's a reward for her yeah, but I also I have to temper it too, because I don't want her to be get distracted, because then she's like, oh, it's fun, now we can play with all these people and I'm just going to be a dog and be excited and you know, wanting to be leaning against you and you're trying to conduct business. And I need to be calm and quiet and it's a little bit harder for me to get her energy level down you know, after that yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 1:

So you've mentioned you take her to restaurants. You've taken her um on public transport. You've taken her to church do this is a question I've got for you, being an ex-flight attendant are you, are you um taking her on planes at all, do you? Yeah, okay, so that's part of.

Speaker 2:

She's flown all over the states, um, even to hawaii, um, so we've flown to hawaii. She's flown to florida, yeah, four times, um, so that's across the country. We're in california, so florida's as far as we've gone, basically all the way, but four times back and forth across the country. We've flown to Minneapolis, which is pretty much across the country as well. So we've flown all over. She's been to nine different states, and some multiple times, like I said, and trips too. So when she flies, she flies under the seat in front of me or in a bulkhead, she just lays right in front and I have a little mat that I put down and she's so good now. Now I just like put the little. We walk to the aisle and she goes in, and usually I pick a window that's vast, if I'm able, and then she just gets under the seat and just kind of like backs in so her.

Speaker 2:

Her bottom will be towards the front and she'll be looking at me and she just lays down and sleeps.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, beautiful, what a good dog yeah yeah she's such a good girl.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's really funny. I'll have people literally sitting next to me because she's black too, so you can't see, like when it's blinding down there. I eat her there too. Um, there I have. I literally multiple times had people sitting next to me that go. I had no idea there was a dog down there wow yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'd say I'm very well behaved up yeah, yeah she's.

Speaker 2:

She's a real good girl and she just kind of goes with the flow and, you know, will walk next to me in the airport. Yeah, yeah, we're our next like next big thing. We do want to start to do some international travel. So that's, I'm trying, kind of trying to to gear up to that. So you never know, one day we might we might come to australia.

Speaker 1:

That's a far, that's a far, that's a big flight, that's a really big flight into america three times and it's a, it's a long haul.

Speaker 2:

We might have to stop over in fiji or something in between yeah, break it up a bit, exactly, yeah definitely pg. Pg was only I've not been to pg, that that's as far that way as I. That was like 10 hours, 10 hours from los angeles, so it wasn't. Yeah, that's. That's not much further than we've moved to hawaii, so that's good yeah.

Speaker 1:

so just chatting with you, like my brain's kind of going a little bit crazy here, thinking of how, you know, a gluten detection dog could help others. So do you think that there's a particular type of person that a gluten detection dog would be most beneficial for? Like who do you think would be the most?

Speaker 2:

I would, yeah, I would say you have. You continue to get sick, like your celiac is not well managed. You're having issues with finding the source of your problem. So specifically, you know somebody that has refractory celiac disease a hundred percent in the original gluten detection dog was trained by Don Choi of Willow Service Dogs and Don has refractory and that was kind of the impetus behind it because her their need at that level is zero.

Speaker 2:

You know, what I mean. They need completely eliminate that. So I would say definitely somebody that has refractory, somebody that is getting sick a lot and somebody that you know that has a need, you know that their lifestyle is really being limited by it. Yeah, to do that, I would say you also have to be somebody that has the time and ability to to do to do because it's not a device, you know, it's not in in in your, and we do maintenance training.

Speaker 2:

So even though she's fully trained, I have to do maintenance training constantly with her and and work on that. So it's not a one and done, and the other part is you're taking a dog with you everywhere and that requires a lot more effort. You know, it's kind of like having a small child with you, you's right I'd be thinking, thinking about all their needs and did I bring the water? Did I bring the treats? Did I, you know?

Speaker 1:

do I have her booties if it's too warm or too cold, and yeah, you know all that kind of stuff yeah, definitely, because, like in the lead up to talking to you, I was thinking you know people that have got, maybe, special needs. It could be a really great extra for them to gain that support. And I wondered about children. But after talking with you I don't. I think it's probably a bit too much for a child to be taking a gluten detection dog. Do you know people that are young that have gluten detection dogs and it works for them?

Speaker 2:

or off the top of my head, I don't know. Um, I know I know someone that has a peanut detection dog, but she does not take that dog with her to school. Um, at this point, yeah, and she was like a middle schooler. I think she's starting high school, yeah, um so, but you know, there are, there are kids that have service dogs that go with them to school and things like that. I think you definitely could.

Speaker 2:

It just is it's, it's a lot you know, and, and especially if you're able to control that environment, right you're, you can pack a lunch and take the lunch, so is it worth that extra hassle? And you can train dogs to do multiple things too. So maybe somebody you know, if somebody has you know, seizure issues, or you know diabetes and celiac where then you dog for two different things.

Speaker 2:

That adds to the training process, yes, but something like that. So yeah, I think it all depends. I do know, like the peanut detection dog, there are people that maybe have gotten them for their child, but the dog doesn't always go with them to school, and I know I've talked to a lot of people that are like I want to train a dog now, while my daughter's here, so that the dog can go with her to college, to make that a more seamless transition.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that makes sense and I think that makes a lot of sense. But you have to have I mean, it's a lifetime commitment. It is. It is definitely, you know, the lifetime of the dog. Yeah, and it's well worth it. I mean, it's super rewarding, but I I always want to be realistic with people, that it's not just a it's not a quick magic yeah, it's not a quick fix it's not a quick fix. I mean, I wouldn't trade her. She has made my life yeah so much better.

Speaker 2:

Um, in many ways I mean she's, she's the great, a great member of my family too yeah um, and it's fun to, it's fun to have her to travel with, and things like that, but yeah, but yeah, it is, it's, it's, it's a lot, you know a lot, yeah, yeah, but I'm so glad that she's made your life so much more enjoyable and easier, and yeah, that's amazing to hear.

Speaker 1:

So, if people wanted to look further into either getting a gluten detection dog or training one I know you've got some resources on your website um, would you, would you recommend that people do the training themselves rather than buy a pre-trained gluten detection dog? Do you have any sort of opinions on that, or?

Speaker 2:

yeah, the challenge is is that there's a there's no standards for gluten detection trainers or training. I've heard a lot of horror stories, um, especially in the pre-trained dogs. I mean, because of my social media following, I hear from people you know. One of the saddest is I had a gal that got a dog that was trained at six months old. Trained gluten detection dog. No service dog is ever going to be trained at six months old. No dog is going to be trained at six months old because they haven't passed through their whole year.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And that dog is not even potty trained, basically, and she spent like fifteen thousand dollars and she's left with that. I've heard of people that you know got dogs that weren't at all fit for their lifestyle. So that's the challenge yeah on my website, which is suki pwdcom, s-u-k-i-p-w-dcom, and that I have like how to select a trainer and stuff like that. I am working on some additional resources that would help people. The idea is we want people to understand.

Speaker 2:

It's a major commitment to get a service dog yes, if you train it yourself or if you're getting a you know a dog from a program you have to, there's a lot to know ahead of time. I've shared some of the things there, but there's a lot of considerations about you and your lifestyle, so we're working on some resources that will kind of help people know what they need to know before they go down that path. The one thing I will always recommend is that you, that people do work with professional trainers that specialize in gluten detection or allergen detection, because you cannot know, you are 50 of the thing.

Speaker 2:

So we've talked a lot about training the dog. You are also in training. So my body positioning, how I'm rewarding, how I'm standing um, how I move, because there's points where you know I was moving forward and I was signaling her to do one or the other, which that's you don't know.

Speaker 2:

There's so much of this, of what you do that you can't ever know, even if you video yourself, you can't know. So having somebody watch you and I mean the, the, the very first the top trainer in in in gluten detection is don don choy of little service dogs and she trains with a trainer when she trains her dogs, oh wow so yeah, so so just because you cannot see what you do.

Speaker 2:

So I always recommend everybody, everybody, bring somebody that you're working with so that you can know and every dog is different too and you kind of have to deal with somebody that is a professional that can help you work through challenges of training, because you are going to undergo them, of training, because you are going to undergo them. There's going to be something that comes up where you know, doc is weirded out by this plate, or you know a noise or a certain.

Speaker 2:

I mean those kind of things happen during training and you have to work through it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, definitely, and you've got some recommendations on your website for trainers as well, I believe. Is that correct?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I have some things. People can also reach out to me via my website or via social media yeah I'm on instagram and tiktok and youtube um I'll pop all the links below to all of that. Yeah, all of it is isuppwd so yeah yeah yeah, yeah absolutely and and and, and. Stay tuned because I am going to be having more of those resources, so they're hopefully will be released. Um will be released shortly, so they'll they'll keep us updated yeah, we'll share those.

Speaker 1:

Well. Thank you so much for your time today, kendra. Was there anything else that you wanted to add to finish the show?

Speaker 2:

thank you for talking to me today and, um, if people want to see Suki in action, I have tons of videos on my social media, so definitely check those out and I'm happy to answer any questions people might have fantastic, perfect, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening, everyone, and we'll talk to you again next week. Bye.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Belinda Whelan

Host