Dogs have been training for years, how to sniff out early stage cancer in humans and it looks like all that training is finally paying off. There are no tests available that can find cancer at stage zero. To date it can only be accomplished through canine. Some of these dogs are finally getting to show off some of their truly amazing talent.
Stories have surfaced for decades of canines detecting early stage cancer in their owners, so it only makes sense that we can and should use that to our advantage.
In Situ Foundation is an organization that works with dogs, training them how to detect cancer in people, while it’s in the early stages and treatable. They usually do it through breath or urine analysis and the training can be extensive. There are many variables involved, the dogs have to be so finely tuned and able to detect the cancer as opposed to the breath of one individual. The training has been so successful that they are finally getting to put their skills to valuable use.
Milton Keynes Hospital in the United Kingdom has been granted the approval for trials involving an on site cancer sniffing dog and it looks like they are not alone. Many more hospitals will be adding dogs to their medical teams.
The University of California Davis may be next. According to the Sacramento Bee, they will soon have two furry, new, four legged staff members as well. Alfie a labradoodle and Charlie a german shepherd are currently being trained by a team of experts who also hope to learn from them. It’s unclear what compound the dogs smell to be able to detect cancer in such early stages but doctors are hoping to find out to make more tests available. The earlier cancer is found, the better the chances are for a positive outcome.
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