ABOUT FACTS NET

Else

In life, the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his master's own,
Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone."
Lord Byron

Rico a great dog
Picture Source: Me

There are 52.5 million dogs in the U.S. and they are owned by 37 percent of the households. These statistics were supplied by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Dogs are sometimes capable of operating well beyond their perceived capabilities. Lets look at some of these true dog stories.

It has been found that dogs can be trained to detect the smell of cancer cells.

Michale McCulloch's dog pal, Shing Ling is being trained to detect cancer cells. It seems people with cancer give off an odor that is detectable to Shing Ling. McCulloch has collected breath samples from cancer patients and healthy people and is training his dog to discern the difference. A dog has forty time the number of cells in its nose for receiving odors than a human. This enables them to detect most scents given off by a person with cancer. McCulloch's goal is to get the dog so good at detecting cancer that he will be able to detect it before technology can. At this point, McCulloch states that the dog is right eighty seven percent of the time. McCulloch isn't the only researcher doing this. There are scientists in Florida and England attempting the same thing.

Known as "Red Cross Dogs", during World War I, most every country utilized dogs to aid with the battlefield wounded. These dogs were trained and specialized in seeking out wounded and bypassing dead soldiers. Strapped to their bodies, the dogs carried water canteens and small amounts of medical supplies. If the wounded man was unconscious or unable to move, the dog would return to his handler, usually taking something belonging to the soldier, and lead a rescue team back. These dogs, although under heavy fire, were also trained not to bark so as not to alert the enemy of their location.

Sergeant Stubby was America's first war dog. He was in seventeen battles and served for eighteen months.He alerted the regiment to mustard gas attacks, caught a German spy and helped the wounded. He became very famous. He was found at a training field in New Haven, Connecticut. Corporal Robert Conroy hid Stubby on board the troop ship when the unit shipped out. When the first battle started Stubby wasn't fazed. When the shells would come close and the men would duck for cover, so would Stubby. One night while Conroy was asleep, Stubby jumped up, growled, and ran out of the tent. There was a cry of pain. Conroy grabbed his weapon and ran outside. Studdy had captured a German spy by biting him in the posterior and holding on. Stubby received many decorations and even met with President Woodrow Wilson, who shook his paw. Stubby was promoted to Sergeant.

Assistance dogs are specially trained to help people who are blind, deaf, or physically disabled. From the time they are adopted by puppy raising families or trainers until the time they are retired, their lives are devoted to the serious task of providing security and independence to a person with a disability. It's not always a specific breed that makes the best assistance dog. Instead, dogs are selected for the temperament and size that suits them for the job they'll have to do.

The first assistance dogs were developed in Germany in the 1920s as guide dogs for veterans who lost their sight during World War I. There are now three basic types of assistance dogs:

Guide dogs
Dogs that guide the blind.
Hearing dogs
Hearing dogs alert a person who is deaf or hearing-impaired to sounds like doorbells, smoke alarms and baby cries.
Service dogs
Service dogs help people who have physical disabilities. They can pull wheelchairs, open doors, retrieve dropped items or provide stability for someone who can't balance very well. Service dogs can also be trained to help people with seizure disorders or other medical problems. Assistance dogs serve about 20,000 people in the United States. More than 60 non-profit programs train and place these dogs nationwide.

There were once hundreds of thousands of African wild dogs. Unfortunately these dogs are now an endangered species. There are now under 5,000 of these animals. Ranchers have killed off most of the wild dogs then disease came along and decimated the ranks that were left. These dogs are about the size of a German Shepherd and live in packs of a couple of dogs to as many as thirty.

The Scoop published a story on Monday, July 30, 2001 about an 83 year old Florida woman who fell in her yard breaking her nose, dislocating her shoulders. She couldn't move. She yelled for help but to no avail. Her faithful dog Blue came to her side and laid beside her. Suddenly Blue jumped up and ran around the side of the house. She heard growling and snapping and Blue returned. Again he jumped up and ran to the side of the house and made terrible sounds. She could tell he was hurt and thought he was killed. She didn't know what was happening. Her family returned from the beach and Blue, who was not dead, ran to them excitedly barking and leading them to the yard. It turned out that Blue had been defending the woman from a large alligator. The dog had been wounded but managed to hold off the gator from coming into the yard.

There is no doubt about it, our dog friends are amazing creatures that give us love and demand little in return. They will give up their lives to protect us and worry about us when we are sick and all they ask is a little attention, a few tugs on a toy and a nice pat on the head once in a while.

Bed Time for Rico
Picture Source: Me