Type 1 diabetes can turn your life upside down, especially if a person is diagnosed with the illness as a child. But with the help of their canine companion, a Paris family is taking it all in stride.

Kaeclin Shepard was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was in the first grade. Her mother, Kari said that her daughter was thirsty all the time. “She couldn’t make it through a little league game without having to go to the bathroom several times.”

But Kaeclin has adjusted, helped in part by Charli, Kaeclin’s Diabetic Alert Dog the family adopted last year.

Kari described the initial impact as overwhelming, noting that there was so much to learn and a new lifestyle had to be adopted including new habits that were challenges for a six-year-old to adjust to. “And then finding out that there is no cure, was very hard for us right at first.”

But Kaeclin has adjusted, helped in part by Charli, Kaeclin’s Diabetic Alert Dog the family adopted last year.

“Charli puts her nose on my hand and moves it up and down, and that’s how I know I’m dangerously high or low. Then I have to test my blood sugar to see if she was right. She usually is,” Kaeclin said.

Charli is loyal to Kaeclin, and provides an added sense of security for her parents.

“She can be with her anywhere she goes, even if we’re not there we have an extra set of eyes and a very smart nose that’s looking over her,” Kari said.

Although Kaeclin wears a Central Glucose Monitor at all times to track her blood sugars, the device is not as fast as Charli who can detect problems with her blood sugars 20 minutes before that alarm ever goes off on the CGM.

As a consequence of everything the family has been through the Shepards now work hard to help other families cope with diabetes via a support group. “One thing I would tell them is it’s a life change, it’s an adjustment, it is manageable,” Kari said.

“You can’t always protect them, but you try to put as many things in place, that you can protect them,” Kaeclin’s father Tony mentioned. And with Charli working as a protector, friend and a family member the Shepards’ are grateful to have him.