Dogs for Diabetics: Training Dogs to Sniff Out Low Blood Sugar Levels
A dog's nose: Their most powerful tool
There are around 125 to 3000 million scent glands in a dog’s nose. A dog’s intricate sense of smell is 1,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than a human’s. Researchers use this intriguing sense of smell to detect changes happening within the body. Different organs have different chemical compounds,and each has a different scent. These scents are apparent in both sweat and breath. “Dogs have highly sensitive senses and can learn to recognize symptoms from many types of disorders. In our work, they are not taught to react to symptoms, but to scent,” explains Ralph Hendrix, executive director of Dogs 4 Diabetics.