Seeing Eye dogs get most of the credit when it comes to professional relationships between humans and dogs. Seven-year-old Kaelyn Krawczyk, however, receives help from another type of service dog and a less traditional breed, a terrier mix, FOX reported.
Kaelyn has mastocytosis, in which sufferers are highly allergenic to a wide range of triggers, not all of them known, according to FOX. J.J., her watchdog, can't necessarily sniff out potential triggers, but she has a special ability to detect Kaelyn's reactions before they become too serious (and before most machines), at which point her parents right her with an EpiPen. Before J.J., Kaelyn had 3 to 4 severe episodes annually; this year, she's had just one.
J.J.'s nose is in many ways beyond the curve of technology. When doctors performed exploratory kidney surgery earlier this week to determine the cause of Kaelyn's constant kidney infections, they brought the terrier in the room to monitor possible signs of infection, according to ABC.
"Knowing what JJ could do, we realized that JJ was not much different from other monitors we use," Brad Taicher, Kaelyn's anesthesiologist, told the News-Observer.
J.J.'s cues of alarm are typical canine signs of excitement: turning in circles or licking Kaelyn's face, as she did during an episode last January.
"She started licking our daughter to get her up," Kaelyn's mother, Michelle Krawczyk, told ABC. "All the cardiac monitors were in the normal range. KK said, 'Mommy, I feel like there's a ball in my throat.' She was having swelling, and time is of the essence. Four minutes after JJ alerted us, the monitors started to change."
J.J. background and breed aren't typical of medical dogs, according to ABC. She actually spent part of her life in a shelter, not the usual place for animal trainers to find or recruit new talent. But when Deb Cunningham, program director at Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Paws visited a local animal shelter in Chapel Hill, NC, the kennel manager directed her to a terrier with a special temperament. Eventually, Deb would connect J.J. with the Krawcyk's. Ever since, Kaelyn has been able to lead something closer to a normal life.
"We hope she will get better, but we don't expect her disease to go away," said Krawzcyk. "It's a lifelong process for her and that's O.K. Medical science can't provide us with a monitor. JJ is her lifeline and she knows that."