Donna Hartness Memorial Scholarship Recipient
Regaining Herself
Katie is a bright, articulate, athletic, effervescent 14-year-old. She also has a superpower: medical alert service dog Coltrane, who helps Katie manage her type 1 diabetes. Before Coltrane came into her life, as her disease took its toll, Katie lost her confidence and struggled to do things that she had loved to do. Katie didn’t hear the alarms that went off during the night if her blood sugar went too high or too low. During one week, Katie and her mother, Jenny, had to use her emergency meds twice. Katie became Jenny’s shadow, afraid of being alone. When Jenny went to the grocery store, Katie was right there with her. When Jenny had a doctor appointment, Katie stuck to her like glue. 
Katie began to advocate for a diabetic alert dog when she was in third grade. It was a “passion project” for one of her classes. As Jenny says, “When a third grader brings you a PowerPoint presentation of why she needs a service dog, you listen a little bit.”
Katie applied to and was accepted by an East Coast medical alert service dog organization. Katie, though, is part of a military family. Before Katie could be matched with her service dog, the family had to relocate to Washington state. The East Coast organization would only take clients who lived within six hours. So, Katie had to find another medical alert service dog organization on the West Coast and begin the application process all over again. During the four-year-long process, Katie and her family learned a tremendous amount about service dogs. The long wait paid off when Katie was matched with Coltrane, from Early Alert Canines (since merged with Canine Companions) in 2025. Their team graduation took place on April 18, 2026. That’s when Coltrane’s leash was formally passed to Katie.
With Coltrane in her life, Katie has once more become the happy, confident girl she once was. Before Coltrane came into her life, Katie never gave up doing things. But her efforts were shadowed by fear and anxiety. She no longer feels the need to shadow her mother, letting Mom know, “I’ve got Coltrane…I’m good.” Katie has been able to focus on resuming her active life and love of running. Katie and Coltrane were even in the school play. Before Katie tried out for a part, she asked the theater director if she thought that Coltrane could also be in the play. The director said, “We will find a way to bring him into the play!” There was a line in the play where Katie’s character said, “I hope I fed the dogs before I left.” That was a perfect cue for Coltrane. Many considered Coltrane to be the star of the show.
Coltrane is quite a celebrity. He is very dapper, wearing a jaunty bow tie when in public. He handles the attention and his adoring fans with great humility. He never loses sight of his job: keeping Katie safe and alerting her when her sugar is too high or too low. Coltrane will alert Katie before any device would
pick up the fluctuation. He will sit before her and paw. If she seems too slow, to him, to respond, he will climb on top of her. That’s quite a load: a 60+ pound dog on a girl of less than 100 pounds. And if climbing on Katie does not get the desired response as quickly as he would like, Coltrane will go get Jenny.
Like any proud mom, Katie has many sweet stories about Coltrane. One of her favorites revolves around how Coltrane wakes up from his nap. Coltrane takes a two to three hour nap every day. So that he can truly relax, Katie puts him in his crate. When she goes to wake him, he is overjoyed, prancing around with a favorite toy in his mouth. Then he goes throughout the house to show the rest of the family his toy and his happiness. The whole process lasts at least 10 minutes. If he takes his nap in his crate at school and doesn’t have a toy handy, he’ll grab his vest and parade around with it.
One of Coltrane’s favorite high value treats is Cheerios. When he and Katie were in the grocery store and went down the cereal aisle, he sat expectantly in front of the Cheerios section, focusing intently on Katie as if to say, “Mom, don’t forget to get lots of boxes.” Coltrane likes all Cheerios. For him, though, the ones that have additives such as blueberries and carrots are in a class of their own. When he gets one of those, he goes into doggie ecstasy.
Jenny gets emotional when talking about the difference that Coltrane has made in the family’s life. “I think just seeing the confidence that she’s regained. And the light that’s been put back in her eyes. For her to be able to do things that she used to do, without second thoughts. So she’s now able to do those things again. And I think for me, you kind of lose a piece of yourself. Because you want to fix it, and you can’t. And to see it resolve in a new way, a better way, is even better.” Coltrane makes the situation better and in a way that allows Katie to maintain and grow her freedom and independence.
And what does Coltrane do for Katie? A poem that she wrote and read at her and Coltrane’s team graduation sums it up simply, eloquently, and beautifully.
Coltrane’s Graduation Poem
A coat of midnight, sleek and like a black sheep,
A guardian watching before the beep.
No words are spoken, yet you always know,
How high or low my blood sugars go.
With a black leather nose and a focused stare,
You catch the sharp tang in the air.
A chemical reaction, a storm,
But you press against me, solid and warm.
Before the shaking, sweating crash,
Earlier than any sensor’s flash.
A paw on the knee,
The warning that is for me.
No longer a hostage to fear or fate,
I now walk with a steady gait.
With you by my side, the shadows part,
You are my confidence, whose love beats in my heart.
My vested partner, my little light,
Who turned my fear to might.
You have given me a peace so sound,
Coltrane, my black lab, who keeps my world on the ground.
