Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine

Description

Our definition of what a service dog does is evolving. With an unfathomably acute sense of smell and incredible neuroplasticity, dogs can be trained for many different tasks that can be used in various avenues of health care. In Doctor Dogs, we meet dogs and trainers who are keeping people safe during health crises, including dogs who can interface with technology in case of emergency. Dogs are showing signs of being able to detect cancer, heart disease, and seizures before any human notices them. Already, individuals with mental disorders rely on their service dog to get them through hallucinatory episodes. Here author Maria Goodavage spends time with patients and families who have benefitted from service dogs, as well as scientists who are testing whether dogs can be used at international border quarantine facilities - potentially protecting the health of a whole country. Maria also looks closer to home, reflecting on whether her own family could have had more time together if their pet had been trained in detection. Ultimately, Doctor Dogs shows us once again how dogs change our lives for the better.