Speaker: Geoff Lambert

Geoff, who works for the Medical Detection Dogs Charity, gave us a fascinating insight into the work of these very special dogs.  Dogs have a far more acute sense of smell than humans have, and many medical conditions have their own unique smell which dogs can be trained to detect.

Geoff described how the charity trains dogs for two distinct purposes.  Some dogs are trained to look after people with long term illnesses.  The dog can detect changes in the person’s wellbeing much sooner than the person themselves can, so they, or their carer, are alerted to the change and can take corrective action sooner, e.g. ‘brittle’ diabetic patients.  This relies on the dog being able to be with the person 24/7 so there can be no internal doors in the house that would prevent the dog from being close-by to the person they are looking at!

The other use of medical detection dogs is initial detection of illnesses.  Specially-trained dogs are able to detect the specific smell associated with certain diseases and are often able to detect it more quickly than doctors can through more traditional means.

All in all, a great presentation and insight into the marvellous skills of medical detection dogs.