Ebony, written by a little girl (who is all grown up now), written many moons ago.

A dog that understands, cares, and lives for me. A black dog called Ebony who’s soppy shiny puppy eyes show the story book love of her heart; and her tail and tongue which tell how happy she is to see me. I loved dogs and I had Type 1 Diabetes (my sister does as well). Before I got Ebony my diabetes was uncontrolled and my blood sugars were all over the place. We drove from Ipswich to Ulladulla, beyond Sydney to look at a special litter of puppies from a breeder called Amber Kay - they were adorable Groodles (Standard Poodle cross Golden Retriever). And guess which puppy came lolloping towards me first - Ebony! The exact puppy we were going to buy. When I went into the pen they came running up to us, licking us, playing with us and cuddling us, especially my dog. We took the grown up Groodles to the beach with the owners. The owners would throw the ball into the sea and the Grandfather and Father Groodle would go for it in the rolling waves and fetch it way out to sea. The Grandfather was literally HUGE! He is was a giant teddy bear and he was probably about 40 inches around his tummy and chest and about 35 inches tall, from his feet all the way to his back. You would bury a stone in the gritty, stony sand and he would dig it up again. He a bear to behold, he was a gentle giant. When you threw a stone in the shallows the Grandmother Groodle would put her head under water and fetch the exact same stone that you threw. It would have been hard as there were many stones in the shallows. The Mother and Grandmother also enjoyed fetch in the sea but were less competitive than the boy Groodles. All the Groodles were very interactive with us back at their home. Groodles are an absolutely amazing dogs. They were bred originally to serve as non-allergic dogs for people with disabilities. They suit their purpose very well - happy, playful, intelligent, super loving with their only desire to please their owners.

Ebony with her Mum

When we were in our car driving to our cabin, Ebony kept stressing out and howling miserably. we discovered that my blood sugars were really high - she was naturally alerting without any training! That night tiny Ebony (who slept very close to me) whined and stood on my chest pawing me. Ebony woke up Mom and Mom came and checked my sugars ... I was very low! Ebony was absolute star! But there was a lot of training ahead to capture this natural gift.

At this stage we didn't know that my sister had Type 1 diabetes as well. Unlike other Diabetes Alert Dogs (D.A.D.s), we did not go with an organisation, rather I have done all my own training myself, starting at 11 years old (I am just 13 now). I have read so many books on dog training. Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, is my favourite author! Ebony doesn't just alert us for diabetes, she has alerted us when a friend was low on oxygen during an asthma attack. Ebony was frantic! She is such a good girl. She even comforts anyone in the family when they are sad. I felt sad once and she kept on alerting Mom; we were confused as my sugars were fine and so were my sisters but eventually, we realised that Ebony was telling Mom that I was sad. Once my grown-up sister felt sad and stressed and Ebony came up and pressed very close to her in the middle of the night, as if she was giving her a special hug!

Baby Ebony, as clever as can be!

Amber Kay Groodles,
 she is breeding again if you want her info, let me know:
 This is Ebony's Mum, Dad, Paternal Granny and Granddad

When Ebony goes out, she is very serious about her job. But gets more playful at home. She loves playing hide and seek; I make her stay and I hide and call her, and she shoots off like a rocket to find me when I call her. If I hide in the trailer, she will jump right in with me. If I hide up high, she will put her front paws up to me to try and reach me! She loves playing fetch with her sister Rosie, too. I have taught her to catch her toys in mid-air. Ebony also enjoys trying to sneak into bed with me, but she is really too big! I can tell when she is about to jump on my bed because she has this cheeky laughing look in her eyes! If I leave her in the bedroom by herself, she whines and sometimes she literally howls like a wolf, a sad mourning howl. Ebony loves cuddles and sometimes I use her as a pillow. She loves doing tricks with me and does it with ease. She is very quick to learn new tricks, mostly it only takes a few minutes and you can see her light bulb turn on, when she understands what I am asking her to do. She is very bright and tries her very best to please me. She has a special way of saying "thank you" and "love you"... she nibbles my hair as dogs do to each other when they are friends.

Ebony loves playing at the beach, especially if there is a toy. I have tried burying the ball very deep, and she digs it up. She will eat fishing bait if we are not looking and enjoys chasing crabs too, but she is clever enough not to get pinched! Ebony loves swimming too.

Sometimes without me noticing, she helps herself to a treat, but she cannot help wagging her tail in a special way and I know what she is up to.

When we had the money, we took her to training lessons and obedience classes. They are one of the best trainers and have trained some of the best sniffer dogs in the world. The trainer's names are Craig and Tracy Murray. Tracy did most of the obedience. But Craig did much encouraging. They also train police dogs and sniffer dogs and dogs to help disabled people too. We once saw them train a dog to catch criminals by the arm, it was fun to watch! When we arrived and they saw 3 children with dogs (my brother and sister have dogs too), they were worried about three kids handling dogs with an aggressive Mastiff cross Great Dane in the class. When the class started, they were amazed at how obedient and how well the dogs concentrated for us, and how well we could handle them. The trainer said they had never seen a family with dogs so well trained. They said that they had never seen a kid my age train a dog so well, and with a dog so obedient. I was so pleased with my dog and so proud of her! They even offered me a job when I turn 16 or 18!

I love my dog and she is the best dog in the world, and I do not know what I would do without her.