Dogs are smart. There’s no disputing that. Just think of Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and that water skiing, skate boarding, lounging by the pool party consultant for the Anheuser-Busch Company, Spuds MacKenzie. Dogs offer up unconditional love to their owners. They’re our faithful companions and partners in crime. And now, with no medical degree, some dogs are able to detect colon cancers in humans. And if that weren’t enough, hearing impaired dogs are able to understand and respond to sign language.
In a study conducted by Japanese researchers, Marine, an 8 year old black Labrador was 97% accurate in detecting colon cancer in some 200 patients with and without the disease. The fecal occult blood test missed 30% of the cancers. Of course the dog sniffed the stool samples not the actual person. (Removing the visual)
It’s no secret dogs are known for their keen sense of smell which is a million times more sensitive than humans. This enables them to identify cancer based on chemical compounds found in the blood, urine and tissue samples that are emitted by the disease.
Sparky, a deaf dachshund learned sign language from the inmates at the Missouri State Prison. It is often difficult to find good homes for deaf dogs so rather than have them euthanized; the dogs are taken in by the prison and are trained by the inmates. Sparky learned to respond to hand signals directing him to sit, heel, lie down and stop. They’re working on signals for food and outside. If I were an inmate I think I would be teaching signals for “sick him” or “attack”, just in case. Remembering Scared Straight!
Ironically enough, the prison is called Licking. (As in dogs because they can?)
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