Dogs: So Much More Than Just Pets

I am a dog lover. I have had one or more dogs most of my life, and found that the joy and love they add to life to be immeasurable. I am dogless at the moment, due to an uncertain future (probably have to move), but I will get another dog after we're settled. Recently my mom told me about a PBS show she watched on dogs, and their unique ability to detect the onset of an epileptic seizure and cancer. I checked this out, and amazingly this is true.

Therapy dogs and guide dogs have been part of our lives for dozens of years. Guide dogs for the blind help these people live full, productive lives. The cost of training a guide dog is dear, but well worth it, considering the dog will be working with his master for 10+ years. Therapy dogs came a little later, and are also very expensive to train. They can help a disabled person in so many ways, from letting him know the doorbell or phone is ringing, to turning on lights and even helping with the laundry.

Seizure alert dogs are specially trained to help those with epilepsy and other seizure disorders. It is not entirely true that the therapy dog can predict the onset of a seizure. Actually, the human emits an odor prior to the seizure that the dog may sense, and thus alert his master that a seizure is upcoming. Then the person can prepare, by placing himself in a spot where he will be unharmed. Amazing. The cost of training such a dog is $19,000, certainly a lot less than having a human companion to assist.

Another interesting scientific discovery is that dogs can detect cancer in the urine of humans. Scientists did an experiment where they put the urine of a cancer patient in a dish, alongside several other dishes of urine of non cancer patients. Time and time again the dogs found the cancer. I'm not sure how this will be used in real life, but I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this.

Unconditional love, companionship, loyalty and devotion are just some of the perks we get from having a dog. Now we find out they can also detect cancer, predict seizures, sniff out drugs, and we know they can warn us of earthquakes. Let's take all the qualified dogs that are sitting in shelters waiting to be euthanized and do something important with them. Train them to do rescue and therapy work. I know, we don't have the money, but in a perfect world, what a great way to give those dogs a second chance. Dogs truly are man's best friend.

P.S. Since I originally wrote this, I am no longer dogless. Pepper is the new addition to our family. Pepper had been sitting in the Escondido Humane Society Shelter for several months. Now he's sitting on my bed!!