In the past the idea that dogs could sniff out cancer in people was laughed at and dismissed immediately. In recent years, however, this notion is becoming accepted and recognized as being true. The reason why dogs detect the cancer smell is to do with the tumours themselves. The cancer cells let off metabolic gases which is the odour that a dog picks up.

Apparently even a person can be trained to smell cancer on another person. Someone with cancer will have a different odour on their breath and this would become easily recognizable to a doctor once trained. What all this boils down to is that early detection can increase a person’s survival rate immensely. If using a dog can help then why not? A dog is not expensive and only requires some attention and of course food in return!

Different tests and studies have been done to see what type of cancers dogs can detect. Studies have confirmed that dogs can sniff out parts per trillion which is why their noses can be so valuable. Dogs have been able to detect skin cancer by sniffing skin lesions. Research is being done to prove that a dog can detect prostate cancer by sniffing urine. Lung and breast cancer can be detected by the dog in a person’s breathe.

Results of recent studies have confirmed that dogs can detect cancer between 88 to 97% of the time. Dogs have a sense of smell which is anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than a person. One of the very first cases of a dog sniffing out cancer before detection was reported back in 1989. A woman owned a border-collie Doberman mix who noticed that her dog would not stop sniffing her mole. This sniffing became so persistent that the lady went to the doctors. Tests came back showing that the mole was indeed malignant! Now that would be one pet I would have dog insurance on. Imagine how many people that dog could help if it were kept in pristine health for many years?

The Pine Street Foundation is a non profit cancer research group located in California. Over the last ten years they have been successfully training dogs to sniff out breast and lung cancer. The dogs were then put through tests and achieved a remarkable 88 to 99% success rate!

We probably won’t see dogs in our doctor’s offices in the near future. But it is nice to know that if you are a dog owner then could possibly sniff out this life threatening disease way before it becomes a problem for you.