I was recently at the dermatologist to get my yearly mole check since I had melanoma removed 4 years ago...While waiting, I picked up a Newsweek magazine which had a short article called, "Are Dogs Stealing Our Jobs?" It was a brief article mentioning a Beauceron who was recently at Westminster Kennel Club's Dog Show who sniffs out gluten in food for those with Celiac disease and that canines are increasingly being used to do jobs that don't come as naturally to us humans. The article mentions several breeds and their specialties, from Jack Russell Terriers who detect bedbugs to Labs that can detect cancers like colorectal cancer.
You can read the full article here:
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/13/are-dogs-stealing-our-jobs.html
and it really got me thinking...
I have seen many, many shows about dogs on television and some of the stories are amazing. Years ago, I saw one that highlighted a woman whose dog kept nipping at the back of her thigh. It turned out that she had skin cancer and because this wasn't normal behavior for her dog, she found the spot and got checked out. She says her dog saved her life. Studies show that dogs can detect cancer, roadside bombs, drugs, and of course, they can help find missing people.
While humans are more visual, dogs lead with their noses. According to Wikipedia, "Dogs can discriminate odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can.[110]" I recently saw a show that showed scientists who have built and are working on a machine that works like a dog's nose to detect things like cancer, drugs, etc...For all the trouble they've gone through and with the machine taking up an entire room, I thought, "why not just train more dogs for things like this?"
I have a friend who is the President of her area Humane Society and they have a program, as many shelters do, which pairs dogs with inmates to train dogs. In some instances, the inmates are training dogs to be service dogs. With all the unwanted pets we have in this country alone, why not create a non-profit to teach dogs to use their natural abilities to help us and give the dogs work to do and a good life?
If you know about a group that is already doing this, please let me know. Otherwise, we should suggest this to Oprah since she has a passion for dogs and the pocketbook to fund something like this! ;)
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