How dogs become accurate instruments: care, attunement, and reflexivity

The essay begins with a reflection on Donna Haraway's experience of observing the world through a dog's senses, leading the author to study a non-profit organization training service dogs to detect hypoglycemia in Type 1 Diabetes patients. The author's previous work on the distributed nature of subjectivity in Stephen Hawking's life informs this study. Type 1 Diabetes patients rely on a collective of machines, humans, and animals to manage their blood sugar, highlighting the interconnectedness of human capabilities with non-human entities. This essay focuses on how dogs become living prostheses, interpreting bodily signals imperceptible to humans and machines, and explores the complex interactions and translations involved in creating this human-animal symbiosis.

The author draws upon the work of several scholars, including Donna Haraway (on companion species and cyborgs), Vincianne Despret (on animal subjectivity and interspecies communication), Bruno Latour (on Actor Network Theory), and others. This body of work informs the author's understanding of non-human agency and the distributed nature of subjectivity, setting the stage for the analysis of the human-dog relationship in the context of managing Type 1 Diabetes.

The study is based on ethnographic observations and interviews conducted at a North American non-profit organization that trains service dogs to detect hypoglycemia. The author spent time at the facility, interviewing the director, trainers, volunteers, and patients. The interviews explore the training process, the matching of dogs with clients, and the ongoing relationship between the dog and the human partner. The author utilizes Actor Network Theory to analyze the complex interactions and translations involved in creating and maintaining this human-animal symbiosis. The study focuses on the process of dog training, the matching of dogs and clients, and the ongoing support provided by the training organization.

The training process involves teaching dogs to recognize the scent of hypoglycemia, initially through scent samples collected from diabetics. The process is highly individualized, recognizing each dog's unique personality and learning style. The matching of dogs and clients involves careful consideration of both the dog's and the person's personality and lifestyle. The relationship between the dog and the client is dynamic and requires ongoing calibration, with regular communication and support provided by the trainers. The dogs' ability to detect blood sugar changes before machines is highlighted as superior accuracy, making them an invaluable tool in managing the condition. The author observes and describes a nuanced process of mutual attunement between the human and the canine, leading to the human's ability to feel their blood sugar dropping again, as the dog anticipates their needs. The author points out the dogs' extraordinary olfactory skills, describing how their perception is not merely "orange" but nineteen other things combined, illustrating their detailed analysis of their environment. The dogs' ability to sense and react to the subtlest emotional and physiological changes in their human companions underscores their unique role in providing alerts and emotional support. The study also illustrates how the dog's alerts become integrated into the human's own self-monitoring practices, creating a collaborative system for diabetes management. The author emphasizes that this is not simply a matter of mechanical training; the relationship involves care, attunement, and reflexivity, resulting in a complex form of interspecies communication. The author discusses moments of failure, highlighting that the dog is not a machine but a living creature sensitive to its own stress levels and influenced by their human's emotional state.

The findings highlight the complex interplay between human and non-human actors in the management of Type 1 Diabetes. The dogs act as more than mere instruments; they become integral parts of a distributed system of care. The study demonstrates how the training process involves an exchange of properties, whereby both the trainers and dogs learn to understand each other's perspectives and behaviors. The author's concept of the "distributed-centered subject" is illustrated through the collaborative nature of the human-animal partnership, demonstrating that identity and agency are not solely located within the individual but are distributed across the network of human and non-human actors. This challenges traditional notions of the subject, particularly relevant in the context of medical Knowledge Translation practices.

The essay concludes that the human-dog partnership in managing Type 1 Diabetes provides a unique model for understanding interspecies collaboration and the distributed nature of subjectivity. The study highlights the importance of care, attunement, and reflexivity in creating successful human-animal partnerships and suggests further research into how such partnerships can improve health outcomes and enhance our understanding of the complex relationship between humans, animals, and technology in healthcare.

The study's focus on a single training facility might limit the generalizability of the findings. Further research is needed to explore the variability in training methods and outcomes across different organizations. The philosophical nature of the analysis might not provide deep quantifiable data to support its claims. More extensive research could combine qualitative and quantitative analysis to provide a more robust view of the outcomes and experiences.