Signs Your Dog May Detect Cancer
The key thing that makes dogs so adept at detecting cancer in a person is their sense of smell. There are certain smells associated with different forms of cancer, and these can be present in our urine, on our breath, and even on bodily lesions caused by the disease. However, humans do not pick up these smells during the early stages of cancer, although they can detect them in the later stages. Dogs, however, have an incredible sense of smell and this enables them to pick up on cancer smells very early on, even at stage 0.
If your dog does smell cancer, it may act very different from normal. Some dogs will keep sniffing at you constantly and you may struggle to push your pooch away. Others may lick or even bite at lesions on your body – their way of trying to get rid of the cancer for you.
Others may constantly try to get your attention through paw tapping, whining while around you, and even staring or head tilting. You will also find dogs that simply want to comfort you and will snuggle up and follow you around more than usual. The actions of dogs that can smell cancer can vary based on the personality of the pet.
You may also notice some body language signs displayed by your dog if it picks up on the smell of cancer. Your pooch may sit and stare quite intently at you at times or it may tap at your with its paw. Sniffing at you is a common sign, as it is the smell of cancer that the dog primarily picks up on.
Another thing some dogs may do is follow their owners around more than usual or lie closer to them than normal. In many cases, a dog will pay far more attention to you when it senses and smells cancer, which may be its way of comforting you or alerting you to the fact that there is something amiss.
Some signs your dog will show if they detect cancer include:
More cues your dog will give if they detect cancer are:
History of Cancer Research and Dogs
For many decades, scientists have been hoping to make a breakthrough when it comes to finding a cure for cancer. While we have definitely come a long way in terms of treatment and care for those with cancer, experts are still looking for the cure. A lot of time has also been invested into the diagnosis of cancer, as the earlier this disease is caught, the better the person’s chances of effective treatment and survival. However, when it comes to diagnosis, many people do not realize they have cancer until it is already in its latter stages, which is often too late for treatment.
Even though the medical industry uses a range of high-tech equipment and medical techniques to try and detect and diagnose cancer as early on as possible, it has been discovered that dogs could actually prove far more efficient at doing this than machinery and equipment.
In fact, in the studies carried out so far, it has been proven that dogs are able to sniff out cancer in humans at the earliest stages, which can play a huge part in providing effective treatment. Some dogs are known to have literally saved their owner’s life by detecting cancer early on.
Hyper-focusing on a Body Area or Part
We’ve seen that dogs will stare, sniff, lick and even nip on a body part where they have smelled cancer. In some cases, they may do all of these things, becoming hyper-focused on a specific area or part of your body in a way they’ve never done before.
They do this because they know something is amiss, and they’re trying to do something about it by alerting you to the problem. At least, that’s what researchers surmise. If you have breast cancer, for example, they may focus on your chest. The same can be said for bladder, prostate, and many other cancers that affect a specific part of your body.
Dogs Can Smell Cancer | Secret Life of Dogs | BBC Earth
For many years it’s been believed that dogs, thanks to their amazing sense of smell, can detect cancer in humans. In the last few decades, this belief has been confirmed by research showing that dogs can smell certain types of cancer. Today, as with drugs and bombs, dogs are being trained to sniff out cancer and help humans detect it so that they can get their cancer treated before it’s too late.
We’ll discuss the nine signs to look for when a dog smells cancer and other tips and facts about how, why, and when they can detect it.