This latest study used family dogs including German and Australian Shepherds and a Labrador Retriever, which were given special training over an 11-week period to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breath of patients.

The researchers worked with 220 volunteers, including patients with lung cancer at early and advanced stages, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy volunteers. The dogs took part in a number of tests to see if they could reliably distinguish compounds in the breath of lung cancer patients and even if they smoked.

The dogs were asked to sniff glass tubes containing cotton impregnated with samples of breath from those taking part in the study and had to lie down if they detected a VOC from a lung cancer patient.

The dogs successfully identified 71 samples with lung cancer out of a possible 100. They also correctly detected 372 samples that did not have lung cancer out of a possible 400.

“In the breath of patients with lung cancer, there are likely to be different chemicals to normal breath samples and the dogs’ keen sense of smell can detect this difference at an early stage of the disease,” said study leader Thorsten Walles of Schillerhoehe Hospital in Germany where the study was conducted.

“It is unfortunate that dogs cannot communicate the biochemistry of the scent of cancer,” said thoracic surgeon and fellow researcher Enole Boedeker. Boedeker also said the dogs “were very excited by the ‘game’ and were rewarded by treats when they got it right.”

Previously, research and anecdotal reports suggested dogs, usually Labrador Retrievers and Portuguese Water dogs, can sniff out bladder, skin, lung, breast and ovarian cancers.

Lung and breast cancer patients are known to exhale patterns of biochemical markers on their breath, which can be traced to tumors which exude tiny amounts of chemicals not found in healthy tissue.

Trained dogs have also picked up skin cancer melanomas by sniffing skin lesions, while even domestic pets have raised the alarm with agitated behavior that led their owners to seek medical advice.

Professor Stephen Spiro, deputy chairman of the British Lung Foundation and lung cancer specialist, said, “A dog is said to be a man’s best friend and this breakthrough could show that our canine counterparts could offer more than companionship.”

Story by Elaine Furst for Dog Files

As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches and demand grows for more explosive-detection dogs, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is studying ways to develop the perfect pooch for the job.

There are more than 800 TSA-certified explosives-detection teams of handlers and dogs at airports and mass transit systems. There were fewer than 200 teams when TSA took it over after 9/11. The TSA would like to add an additional 200 teams a year, but they have to have the right stuff.

Dolan seems to have what it takes: “He clearly shows intrepid Bond-like qualities,” says Scott Thomas, program manager of the Canine Breeding and Development Center at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. “He’s absolutely a bold and confident dog.”

That is not always the case, however. Turns out all the dogs love the task of sleuthing, which Thomas describes as a “big game of hide-and-seek,” but they are not all thrilled about other parts of the job.

“They all have good enough noses to smell the explosives,” Thomas says, “but can they continue to find the bomb when there’s gunfire, loud noises, and other scary things happening?”

And since findings in the past 10 years have suggested that dogs’ problem-solving skills resemble skills seen in young children, Thomas relies on the assistance of Sam Gosling, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin in the weeding out process.

“Some dogs get scared and they’re done for the day. Other dogs get scared and bounce back. That’s an enormously important trait to be able to identify as early as we can and learn how to shape dogs,” Gosling says.

Some animal scientists are skeptical of his ideas about shaping personality and cognitive skills in dogs, Gosling says. But he doesn’t worry about that.

“When I first came into this kind of work, people said my research was goofy and irresponsible,” he says. “I didn’t really know what kind of practical implications there would be, but now my research is in demand.

“It’s great to be able to do this and do something extremely important and helpful also.”

Story by Elaine Furst for Dog Files

By Elaine Furst For Dog Files

On Sunday night Mara Steves was mourned by friends and family who remembered her friendly smile and her willingness as a community volunteer to help people in need. Steves was struck and killed by a car in her Laguna Niguel, California neighborhood after she saved a dog that had wandered into traffic.

Steves was jogging about 11 a.m. Sunday when she saw the dog darting into traffic and stopped to grab it. After safely grabbing the dog, she knelt with it on the sidewalk when two cars suddenly collided nearby. At least one of the cars ran onto the sidewalk, striking Steves. She was declared dead at the scene.

The occupants of the two cars were treated at a nearby hospital, none of whom had life threatening injuries.

As it appears the dog had nothing to do with accident, the cause of the collision remains under investigation.

By the time emergency crews arrived, the dog had run away.

– Kenn

A Valencia County man sent his dog to a special school to learn how to sniff out a critter irritating to people across the nation.

A border collie, Sienna, is now the only dog in New Mexico trained to track down bed bugs.

The dog’s owner, Robert Duck, trains Sienna every day by hiding live bed bugs in tiny vials around the house.

Sienna was trained at a school in Florida about a year ago and has since sniffed out bed bugs for the City of Albuquerque and the Department of Health.

“All over the U.S. [bed bugs have] been growing exponentially. It’s already here, but it’s a growing problem,” says Duck.

Sienna is able to find bed bugs in a single room in about a minute with 95 percent accuracy, says Duck.

That’s compared to a pest control service that could take up to two hours with only a 30 percent success rate, he adds.

To read the rest of this story, click here.