Daisy the labrador with owner Claire Guest, whose cancer she sniffed out
Opening the boot of her car, Claire Guest expected her three dogs to jump out and dash off on their walk, barking and sniffing away.
But while two did just that, the third – Daisy the labrador – stayed put, staring intently at her owner before nudging her gently in the chest over and over again.
Claire, who lives in Milton Keynes, thought nothing of it and shooed the fox red lab out of the car. But as they walked along, something made her feel the spot her adored dog had been touching…and there was a lump.
Doctors soon confirmed it was breast cancer: a tumour so deep-seated and aggressive, it probably wouldn’t have been spotted until it was too late.
But thanks to Daisy’s early warning, the then 45-year-old Claire was able to undergo surgery and radiotherapy to save her life.
Nowadays we know that dogs’ superior sense of smell can detect all kinds of illnesses but when this happened in 2008, it was very different.
Claire Guest the CEO of Medical Detection Dogs in Milton Keynes seen with her 3 adopted dogs at the training centre in Buckinghamshire
Many simply dismissed the idea as mumbo-jumbo.
But incredibly, it was Daisy’s amazing detection work that day that helped convince the sceptics that not only does disease have a smell but that dogs can identify it too.
Because – in an astonishing twist – her owner Claire was the co-founder of the Medical Detection Dogs charity which had been set up just months before to prove that very link.
And this was the evidence they needed.
‘I was able to stand up and say, ‘This is the science, look at it,’ says Claire, now 59. ‘Then I could also say, ‘Actually, I probably wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t listened to Daisy’.
Claire, a trained psychologist, had become convinced dogs could smell disease years before while working at another charity
‘That combination was quite powerful. It made people sit up and think.’
Claire, a trained psychologist, had become convinced dogs could smell disease years before while working at another charity where a woman’s Dalmatian had detected her skin cancer.
After meeting a similar convert, Dr John Church, the pair set up MDD and soon proved dogs could smell bladder cancer in humans. In fact, Daisy was integral in that discovery too.
Soon they were proving there were many diseases dogs could detect and the charity started a program to train dogs to detect ‘hypos’ in Type 1 diabetes patients. It’s since expanded to cover many more conditions.
Perhaps it’s not surprising as canine sense of smell is quite incredible: whereas humans have around five million receptors in our noses, they have 350 million.
Which is why they can always tell the second you’ve opened a bag of treats, no matter how quietly you’ve done it.
Daisy received a medal due to her detecting cancer in Claire
Nowadays the charity has grown so much, currently over 80 of their assistance dogs are helping people in the UK.
But it doesn’t come cheap: last year their training and research cost around £2m, all of which comes from fundraising.
This is helped by players of People’s Postcode Lottery who have raised a huge £1.7 million for the charity since 2018.
‘Without their support, we couldn’t have achieved anything like we have achieved and during this terrible post-Covid period we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re able to do,’ says Claire, now 59.
‘We’re working really hard to raise funds from other sources, but knowing the players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting our work for the year enables us to make operational decisions that – without that confidence – we’d really have to consider.
‘It’s huge, I can’t say enough how huge it is.’
Canine sense of smell is quite incredible: whereas humans have around five million receptors in our noses, they have 350 million
The money is spent on many things. One is training Medical Alert Assistant Dogs who live with people with conditions such as Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTs), Addison’s disease, allergies, diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
They give their owners advance warning of any flare-up of the disease they’re about to have so they can either take medication or get somewhere safe.
In doing so, they help massively cut down the number of people needing hospital treatment each year.
Player support has also allowed MDD to expand their operation into all parts of the UK without people constantly needing to travel to their Milton Keynes base for aftercare.
But that’s not the only vital work the charity is carrying out. Their Bio-Detection Dogs, who are trained to spot disease, have recently proved Parkinson’s has an odour which they can smell – it is believed they may be able to detect it up to five or ten years before the onset of symptoms.
This gives hope for new treatments as currently there’s no cure and the condition is usually detected very late, when it’s almost impossible to do anything.
And that’s the point of MDD’s Bio-Detection Dogs programme – it has the potential to change diagnoses and outcomes forever, with prostate cancer, bacterial infections and colorectal cancer all able to be detected. Even for problems you’d never dream of.
‘One of the biggest changes to older people’s independence is a fear of falling,’ explains Claire. ‘A lot of people get very confused, they have a fall and break a hip or shoulder then they go into hospital and when they get home their independent living is changed.
‘But falls are often caused by a urinary tract infection (UTI) and this is nearly always caused by the E.coli bacteria which we’ve proved dogs can smell.
‘In time we hope we can offer dogs trained to find early UTIs who can go into areas where there are a lot of more vulnerable people like retirement homes and indicate if they think someone has a UTI. They could then have a test and treatment.
‘One of the highest intakes into hospital is elderly people with UTIs – it’s massive – and it’s a life-changing experience for them. We could help so many.’
Their research has been so powerful one US scientist – Dr Andreas Mershin of MIT in Boston – is using it to develop a sensor that can detect disease by scent.
And it’s all thanks to that incredible day in 2008 when Daisy detected Claire’s illness. Sadly, the beautiful Labrador died in 2018 aged 13.
‘Having her put to sleep was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,’ says her owner. ‘She died of breast cancer and one of the saddest things is that I couldn’t do for her what she did for me.’
But her legacy lives on as the vital work she was involved in continues to save lives both in Britain and abroad.
How you can help People’s Postcode Lottery keep supporting charities like Medical Detection Dogs
Taking part in People’s Postcode Lottery gives you the chance to share £1million with your neighbours – while also raising vital funds for charities.
For a £12 a month† subscription you will be entered into every draw, with prizes announced every day ..
That includes a bumper £1million for one winning postcode every Saturday as part of the Millionaire Street draw.
There’s also £1,000 to be won every weekday for every ticket in twenty postcodes, £30,000 for every winning ticket in one postcode every Sunday, and a monthly prize of at least £3.2million for one lucky area.
The prospect of winning big on a regular basis is, naturally, a huge attraction. But signing up won’t just benefit you.
At least 33 per cent of the price of every People’s Postcode Lottery ticket goes to good causes.
Players have raised more than £1billion so far for charities.
Click HERE to sign up today.
Medical Detection Dogs is a registered charity in England and Wales (1124533) and in Scotland (SC04443). Funding awarded from Postcode Animal Trust, a registered Scottish charity (SC043837).
†£12 to be entered into all draws, paid monthly in advance. The estimated max possible ticket prize from the December millions and Millionaire Street prize draws is £391,850. Winning postcodes for December’s draws announced daily from 9th December 2023 – 5th January 2024. T&Cs apply. People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries for 20 charities, each has one draw a month and receives a minimum of 33% from ticket sales. To find out draw dates, which good cause promotes and benefits from each draw, and the relevant prizes, see Prize Draw Calendar at www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/draw-calendar. Not available in NI. Conditions apply. Postcode Lottery Limited is incorporated in England and Wales and is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence numbers 000-000829-R-102511 and 000-000829-R-102513. Registered office: Postcode Lottery Limited, 2nd Floor, 31 Chertsey Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4HD. Company reg. no. 04862732. VAT reg. no848 3165 07. Trading address: 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4ET. © 2023 Postcode Lottery Ltd.
Daisy the labrador with owner Claire Guest, whose cancer she sniffed out
Opening the boot of her car, Claire Guest expected her three dogs to jump out and dash off on their walk, barking and sniffing away.
But while two did just that, the third – Daisy the labrador – stayed put, staring intently at her owner before nudging her gently in the chest over and over again.
Claire, who lives in Milton Keynes, thought nothing of it and shooed the fox red lab out of the car. But as they walked along, something made her feel the spot her adored dog had been touching…and there was a lump.
Doctors soon confirmed it was breast cancer: a tumour so deep-seated and aggressive, it probably wouldn’t have been spotted until it was too late.
But thanks to Daisy’s early warning, the then 45-year-old Claire was able to undergo surgery and radiotherapy to save her life.
Nowadays we know that dogs’ superior sense of smell can detect all kinds of illnesses but when this happened in 2008, it was very different.
Claire Guest the CEO of Medical Detection Dogs in Milton Keynes seen with her 3 adopted dogs at the training centre in Buckinghamshire
Many simply dismissed the idea as mumbo-jumbo.
But incredibly, it was Daisy’s amazing detection work that day that helped convince the sceptics that not only does disease have a smell but that dogs can identify it too.
Because – in an astonishing twist – her owner Claire was the co-founder of the Medical Detection Dogs charity which had been set up just months before to prove that very link.
And this was the evidence they needed.
‘I was able to stand up and say, ‘This is the science, look at it,’ says Claire, now 59. ‘Then I could also say, ‘Actually, I probably wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t listened to Daisy’.
Claire, a trained psychologist, had become convinced dogs could smell disease years before while working at another charity
‘That combination was quite powerful. It made people sit up and think.’
Claire, a trained psychologist, had become convinced dogs could smell disease years before while working at another charity where a woman’s Dalmatian had detected her skin cancer.
After meeting a similar convert, Dr John Church, the pair set up MDD and soon proved dogs could smell bladder cancer in humans. In fact, Daisy was integral in that discovery too.
Soon they were proving there were many diseases dogs could detect and the charity started a program to train dogs to detect ‘hypos’ in Type 1 diabetes patients. It’s since expanded to cover many more conditions.
Perhaps it’s not surprising as canine sense of smell is quite incredible: whereas humans have around five million receptors in our noses, they have 350 million.
Which is why they can always tell the second you’ve opened a bag of treats, no matter how quietly you’ve done it.
Daisy received a medal due to her detecting cancer in Claire
Nowadays the charity has grown so much, currently over 80 of their assistance dogs are helping people in the UK.
But it doesn’t come cheap: last year their training and research cost around £2m, all of which comes from fundraising.
This is helped by players of People’s Postcode Lottery who have raised a huge £1.7 million for the charity since 2018.
‘Without their support, we couldn’t have achieved anything like we have achieved and during this terrible post-Covid period we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re able to do,’ says Claire, now 59.
‘We’re working really hard to raise funds from other sources, but knowing the players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting our work for the year enables us to make operational decisions that – without that confidence – we’d really have to consider.
‘It’s huge, I can’t say enough how huge it is.’
Canine sense of smell is quite incredible: whereas humans have around five million receptors in our noses, they have 350 million
The money is spent on many things. One is training Medical Alert Assistant Dogs who live with people with conditions such as Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTs), Addison’s disease, allergies, diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
They give their owners advance warning of any flare-up of the disease they’re about to have so they can either take medication or get somewhere safe.
In doing so, they help massively cut down the number of people needing hospital treatment each year.
Player support has also allowed MDD to expand their operation into all parts of the UK without people constantly needing to travel to their Milton Keynes base for aftercare.
But that’s not the only vital work the charity is carrying out. Their Bio-Detection Dogs, who are trained to spot disease, have recently proved Parkinson’s has an odour which they can smell – it is believed they may be able to detect it up to five or ten years before the onset of symptoms.
This gives hope for new treatments as currently there’s no cure and the condition is usually detected very late, when it’s almost impossible to do anything.
And that’s the point of MDD’s Bio-Detection Dogs programme – it has the potential to change diagnoses and outcomes forever, with prostate cancer, bacterial infections and colorectal cancer all able to be detected. Even for problems you’d never dream of.
‘One of the biggest changes to older people’s independence is a fear of falling,’ explains Claire. ‘A lot of people get very confused, they have a fall and break a hip or shoulder then they go into hospital and when they get home their independent living is changed.
‘But falls are often caused by a urinary tract infection (UTI) and this is nearly always caused by the E.coli bacteria which we’ve proved dogs can smell.
‘In time we hope we can offer dogs trained to find early UTIs who can go into areas where there are a lot of more vulnerable people like retirement homes and indicate if they think someone has a UTI. They could then have a test and treatment.
‘One of the highest intakes into hospital is elderly people with UTIs – it’s massive – and it’s a life-changing experience for them. We could help so many.’
Their research has been so powerful one US scientist – Dr Andreas Mershin of MIT in Boston – is using it to develop a sensor that can detect disease by scent.
And it’s all thanks to that incredible day in 2008 when Daisy detected Claire’s illness. Sadly, the beautiful Labrador died in 2018 aged 13.
‘Having her put to sleep was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,’ says her owner. ‘She died of breast cancer and one of the saddest things is that I couldn’t do for her what she did for me.’
But her legacy lives on as the vital work she was involved in continues to save lives both in Britain and abroad.
How you can help People’s Postcode Lottery keep supporting charities like Medical Detection Dogs Taking part in People’s Postcode Lottery gives you the chance to share £1million with your neighbours – while also raising vital funds for charities.
For a £12 a month† subscription you will be entered into every draw, with prizes announced every day ..
That includes a bumper £1million for one winning postcode every Saturday as part of the Millionaire Street draw.
There’s also £1,000 to be won every weekday for every ticket in twenty postcodes, £30,000 for every winning ticket in one postcode every Sunday, and a monthly prize of at least £3.2million for one lucky area.
The prospect of winning big on a regular basis is, naturally, a huge attraction. But signing up won’t just benefit you.
At least 33 per cent of the price of every People’s Postcode Lottery ticket goes to good causes.
Players have raised more than £1billion so far for charities.
Click HERE to sign up today.
Medical Detection Dogs is a registered charity in England and Wales (1124533) and in Scotland (SC04443). Funding awarded from Postcode Animal Trust, a registered Scottish charity (SC043837).
†£12 to be entered into all draws, paid monthly in advance. The estimated max possible ticket prize from the December millions and Millionaire Street prize draws is £391,850. Winning postcodes for December’s draws announced daily from 9th December 2023 – 5th January 2024. T&Cs apply. People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries for 20 charities, each has one draw a month and receives a minimum of 33% from ticket sales. To find out draw dates, which good cause promotes and benefits from each draw, and the relevant prizes, see Prize Draw Calendar at www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/draw-calendar. Not available in NI. Conditions apply. Postcode Lottery Limited is incorporated in England and Wales and is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence numbers 000-000829-R-102511 and 000-000829-R-102513. Registered office: Postcode Lottery Limited, 2nd Floor, 31 Chertsey Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4HD. Company reg. no. 04862732. VAT reg. no848 3165 07. Trading address: 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4ET. © 2023 Postcode Lottery Ltd.