Doctor Dogs

Doctor Dogs (#861) is Maria Goodavage's latest volume about working dogs, and it is a fascinating read.  We meet dogs who alert diabetics to high and low blood sugars, warn epilepsy sufferers that they are about to have a seizure, sniff out cancers and other diseases, and calm and buffer owners with PTSD and other mental illnesses.

Most of the dogs here are highly trained for their work.  Just as drug-sniffing dogs are used in law enforcement to find contraband items, some health canines can be trained to find specific scents, like those bacteria which cause serious hospital infections.  Whether the problems are physical or mental, dogs seem to have an ability to sense it in their humans and respond to alert their owners or others who can help.

Ms. Goodavage traveled all over the world to meet the researchers, trainers and dogs themselves in health issues in a variety of settings from private homes to labs to hospitals to court rooms.  And it seems that the door is just beginning to open to the roles which dogs (and yes, other animals as well) can play in keeping humans healthy.

Some dogs are already doing it without formal training, as several anecdotes in her book prove.  When I recently had an imaging test at my local clinic, somehow the tech who was handling my exam and I got into a discussion about Doctor Dogs.  She told me that when her mother had come to visit her a few years ago, her dog kept right by her mother's left leg, and every time her mother sat down, her dog would begin to lick her left foot.  The tech made her mother promise to see her doctor after she returned home.  Sure enough, her mother had circulatory problems in her left leg, with an ulcer which refused to heal.  The tech's dog had never been trained to alert to any health problems, but she certainly was able to sniff out something wrong in her "grandmother".  The tech was convinced of her dog's role in diagnosing her mother's problem and prompting her to seek swift medical attention.

Plus, one other thing I really liked about this book was the cover art - a smiling Golden (Don't they all look like they are smiling?) with a stethoscope draped around his neck.  It's an appealing cover - The Dog is In!