Covid-19 (Dog) Times
Gigi has brought so much joy to her new family during the California shelter-in-place order. Photo © Soulful Pet Photography.
Can Dogs Detect COVID-19?
Preliminary German Study Says Yes; U.S. Study Seeks Participants
German researchers have found canines capable of identifying people infected with COVID-19 after just one week of training. In a randomized, double-blind, controlled study published by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, eight dogs from Germany’s armed forces sniffed saliva samples from over 1,000 people, both healthy and infected, and identified those with coronavirus with an average detection rate of 94%.
Researchers conducting the study theorized the dogs were able to detect a specific smell in the samples due to metabolic changes in the diseased patients. However, they noted a range of diagnostic sensitivity among participating dogs, stating it will be important to understand and improve this range before considering the use of dogs to detect COVID-19 on a broader scale.
Meanwhile in Philadelphia, the Penn Vet Working Dog Center recently posted a call for human participants for a similar study. Specifically, they’re looking for U.S. residents over the age of 18 “who either will be tested or have been tested and have received results (positive or negative) in the past 24 hours” for COVID-19.
Would-be participants must complete a brief online health survey here: surveymonkey.com/r/K9Tshirt. If eligible, you’ll be sent a free cotton T-shirt to be worn one night while sleeping. The next day you’ll package the T-shirt and ship it back to the Penn Vet Working Dog Center where it’ll be used in training and testing the dogs. As with the German group, researchers hope this study may help identify a unique odor associated with COVID-19 and ultimately provide another way to screen for the disease.
Questions? Contact Dr. Cynthia Otto, Penn Vet Working Dog Center at coviddogs542@gmail.com or 215-898-3390
sources : cbsnews.com, biomedcentral.com
Special thanks to local writer and dog community friend Maria Goodavage for sniffing out these studies. The author of Doctor Dogs about medical alert dogs, Goodavage has been staying on top of the latest developments in canine COVID detection.
Back to Work?
Headed back to work or school after months at home quarantining with your dog or cat? Experts say you should start now to prepare your furry friends for this life change.
“Owners can help their pets adjust by leaving the house for short periods of time and monitoring the pet’s response,” says Dr. Lori Teller, who recommends using a camera on a phone or tablet to see what’s happening in your absence. Pacing, panting, drooling or excessive barking are signs of anxiety, as is any destructive activity. If you observe any of these signs, consult your vet as soon as possible because unchecked separation anxiety is more difficult to treat the longer it goes on.
Other tips? Provide food puzzles or favorite treats when you leave so your pal will associate your departure with yummy things. “You can also leave on some music for your pet,” says the doc. “Studies have shown that dogs and cats like classical music and soft rock, and some dogs have a preference for reggae.”
source: vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk
Sherlock Hound?
Detective Dogs Sniff Out Crime and Critters
Rabid Nancy Drew fans may recall that Nancy had a dog named Togo, who first showed up in volume 14, The Whispering Statue, and appeared sporadically after that. But what if Nancy and Togo had grown up and gone into the detective biz together?
The result might look like Merrill’s Detector Dog Services, a woman-owned small business that employs roughly 30 dog detectives plus additional canine subcontractors throughout the country. These master sleuths can sniff out anything from bed bugs to bombs, and each one is a specialist with a specific focus. If they’ve been trained to find narcotics, for example, don’t ask them to sub in on a search-and-rescue job.
Based in Manchester, Maine, MDDS has deployed canines across the U.S. and in Canada, the Caribbean and Afghanistan. Owner/manager Katherine Heselton ensures each dog undergoes a year-plus training process, which includes imprinting and shadowing before being placed in a real-life scenario.
These dog detectives represent a variety of breeds and though some may look fierce, they’re actually quite friendly. “All of our shepherds and Dutch shepherds, even if they look scary, they’re like the biggest goofs,” says trainer Sarah Voynik. “They just lick you.”
source: sunjournal.com
Social Media Watch:
Dogs Prove You Don’t Need Thumbs to Go Viral
For a quick lift in these troubled times, check out the Facebook UPS Dogs page. Nothing but happy pix of UPS drivers meeting or holding dogs while on their rounds all over the country. Hey, who ordered the salami sampler?
source: facebook.com
Josie, a senior dog with a nose for treats, garnered over 200,000 likes on Twitter when photos of her mooching snacks from a nearby AirBnb went viral. Read her story here:
source: summitdaily.com
Time to Retool Those Dog Years Jokes
A recent National Institutes of Health study suggests the old ‘multiply your dog’s age by seven’ formula doesn’t give a true picture of canine maturity. Trey Ideker, the study’s senior author and a UC San Diego prof, says a one-year-old dog is actually roughly equivalent to a 30-year-old human, while a four-year-old dog equates to a person in their early 50s. After that, a dog’s aging rate slows down considerably so they can live happily as your vital middle-aged pal for years. The scientists’ best advice? Enjoy the time you have together!
source: npr.org