Page 174 - ShowSight - November 2019

Lines From Linda
BY LINDA AYERS TURNER KNORR
HOLIDAY TREASURE - DOCTOR DOGS
MARIA GOODAVAGE’S CAPTIVATING NEW MASTERPIECE
Since 1621, Americans have come together for one day for one purpose, to give thanks for our blessings. On Thanks-
giving day before or after holiday feasts many families highly anticipate enjoy- ing the televised Philadelphia Kennel Club Dog Show and of course football! What comes next is the rush to the malls to search for the perfect holiday treasure.
Relax, I’ve found the perfect gift to wish for or to give. New York Times best selling author Maria Goodavage, one of the foremost author experts on working dogs has just released her latest masterpiece, Doctor Dogs, How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine.
Goodavage captured my interest with just one excerpt in her book’s cover. In Doctor Dogs we learn about “Dogs who detect cancer and Parkinson’s. Dogs who anticipate seizures and dia- betic lows and highs. Dogs who treat >
(Photo courtesy of Maria Goodavage)
People living in the bucolic Japanese town of Kaneyama have some of the highest stomach-cancer mortality rates in the country. Residents like Tsuruko Chigahara are putting their hopes in a pilot screening program that uses dogs to rapidly and non-invasively detect cancer in urine samples.
(Photo courtesy of Maria Goodavage)
A dog in a prostate cancer study walks around a scent carousel at Medical Detection Dogs in the English village of Great Horwood. The organization is involved in a variety of groundbreaking medical studies around the world. The studies have one unifying element. They use dogs to detect the scent of illness.
(Photo courtesy of Maria Goodavage)
172 • ShowSight Magazine, noveMber 2019
Researchers at Georgia Tech are studying ways to help dogs communicate better with people. Talking vests and touchscreen technology may one day lead to dogs being able to "tell" researchers the strength of a cancer scent or to help someone take action that will avert a mental or physical health crisis.