This Service Dog Could Tell His Little Girl Needed Help From Five Houses Away
A diabetic alert dog from Madison, Alabama, went viral after detecting a 5-year-old girl’s low blood sugar from five houses away while she was playing at a neighbor’s home.
Shelby Landreth, a mother of three, shared the remarkable feat on her TikTok account @shelbylandreth178. In a video “narrated” by her young daughter Paislee’s diabetic alert dog, Tracker, viewers witnessed the pup execute an impressive alert.
“Watch this incredible alert that I make as I tell my mom that my girl is in trouble and needs our help for low blood sugar,” Tracker’s narration says.
Paislee, who’s just 5, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2022. Then, in December 2024, her parents decided that a service dog to monitor Paislee’s blood sugar would be a good fit for their family, which is when Tracker, a golden doodle, entered the picture.
“A service dog can smell when there’s a change and let us know before it happens or when it’s dropping. Tracker beats technology by about 15 or 20 minutes,” Shelby revealed.
“If you’re using technology, it does have a lag time, but Tracker can pick it up exactly when it hits that point, or even if it’s headed that way, which is just super helpful.”
At the time of the TikTok, Paislee had been at a longtime friend’s house down the block. As for why she didn’t have Tracker with her, Shelby detailed how Paislee was too young to be the dog’s main handler. Additionally, her daughter already has other low-blood sugar alert methods in place.
“Paislee is still very young, and I am the main handler for Tracker as of right now. We are starting work in the new year and trying to get Paislee and Tracker to become more of an independent team to where Paislee can be the handler of Tracker in due time when the two of them are both ready and prepared,” Shelby explained.
“Because that means that she has to be able to do everything for Tracker, which is a lot to ask of a 5-year-old little girl.”
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Plus, regardless of whether Paislee is with Tracker or not, she always wears a continuous glucose monitor. She also has her own phone to monitor her sugar, and the data is transmitted back to Shelby, who’s able to keep an eye on her daughter from their house.
“So [Paislee] didn’t necessarily need Tracker with her at the time. We can get by without Tracker going,” Shelby stated.
But even though Tracker had been left at home, he was still on high alert. In the TikTok, the dog informs Shelby, who had been cleaning, that Paislee has low blood sugar, leading her out the front door and down the block.
“None of the alarms that normally sound were going off. I was just letting my mom know we should go check on my girl. She’s heard stories of dogs doing things like this, but I’ve never done this before,” Tracker’s narration said.
After Shelby let the pup outside, the narration noted how Tracker hadn’t walked Paislee to her friend’s house earlier that day. So, Tracker had no clue which residence she was at.
Despite that, Tracker launched into action and, true to his name, began sniffing footprints in the snow to track Paislee’s scent. He traveled side-to-side as he made his way to the correct neighbor’s house, leading Shelby to the property’s front door to check on Paislee.
“Now, little did I know that my girl had already treated this low [blood sugar] before I came down. But I still had to see her in the flesh and know that my girl was okay,” Tracker’s narration continued.
“So I waited here on the porch for her to come down just to show me that she is fine.”
Once Paislee emerged from her neighbor’s house, she gave Tracker some pets, thanked him for checking on her, and went back inside to keep playing with her friend.
As for Tracker, he was brought home by Shelby and given a nice new bone as a reward for his job well done.
The unbelievable TikTok garnered over 66,000 views and received more than 5,600 likes. In the comment section, numerous users expressed their astonishment.
“That’s crazy! These alert dogs absolutely amaze me,” wrote one commenter.
“Five houses away! That is incredible,” added another.
“We don’t deserve dogs; they’re way too good for us,” shared a third.
A few users also asked how it was even possible for Tracker to sense Paislee’s low blood sugar from so far away. Shelby posted a follow-up video to answer this question.
“I have heard, and I have seen other stories, and I have been told by trainers that dogs can actually smell for miles. It’s kind of mind-boggling to wrap your head around if you haven’t seen it in person,” she said.
“But technically, they can smell for miles, and she [Paislee] was not even a mile down the road. So, the short answer is he just picked up on the smell. He picked up on the smell, and he let us know that he was smelling something.”
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