The original plan for 2020 was to train dogs to detect heightened levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. That could let the dogs know when to wake up military veterans suffering night terrors, or get them out of a stressful situation before a panic attack strikes.
The coronavirus pandemic derailed that plan, but opened the door to another. Small, early studies on dogs trained to detect COVID-19 in Europe - though still unproven - showed promise. Southeastern decided to give it a shot.
The four dogs selected were not the top of their class. In fact, they’d flunked out of Southeastern’s guide dog training.
(Tribune News Service) Three days a week, Buffy greets visitors at the entrance to
Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. If they grant permission, she sniffs their feet seeking a whiff of active COVID-19 infection. Few decline the offer when they see the yellow Labrador retriever with a wagging tail. People generally don’t love going to a hospital, said CEO
Robert Meade, but, “Who doesn’t love labs?” Buffy was trained by
Southeastern Guide Dogs as part of a four-dog pilot program for scent detection.
Southeastern Guide Dogs has for years trained the service animals and provided them for free to disabled veterans and people with vision loss. Scent detection, however, was new territory.
COVID-19-sniffing dog on staff at Florida hospital
Buffy the yellow Labrador retriever detects visitors with the coronavirus at Doctorâs Hospital of Sarasota.
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Buffy lays down next to the scent wheel, a tool used by Southeastern Guide Dogs to train her in scent detection. The canisters contain inactivated coronavirus samples. [ Courtesy of Doctors Hospital of Sarasota ]
Updated 5 hours ago
Three days a week, Buffy greets visitors at the entrance to Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. If they grant permission, she sniffs their feet seeking a whiff of active COVID-19 infection.
Few decline the offer when they see the yellow Labrador retriever with a wagging tail. People generally donât love going to a hospital, said CEO Robert Meade, but, âWho doesnât love labs?â
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