The Cocker Spaniel will see you now.

[Wingedharpy]

Covid 19 detection dog trial to start.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to train dogs to see if they can detect Covid 19 before symptoms develop.
These dogs are already used for detecting certain cancers.
Can't do link as have forgotten how to.

[T0tallyFuckedUpFamily]

Here you go OP.

www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres-projects-groups/using-dogs-to-detect-covid-19

[Wingedharpy]

Oh you are clever @T0tallyFuckedUpFamily, thanks.
Digby, the dog, has a look of Boris about him.😊
Would be good if it's successful.
Every little helps.

[T0tallyFuckedUpFamily]

You’re welcome. It’s 2.40 am so I’m heading to bed, but I’ll have a proper read tomorrow. Dogs are amazing and I wouldn’t be surprised if they can do this.

[Peggysgettingcrazy]

I am goint to be honest, I clicked on the thread because it had cocker spaniel in the title! I have had them for 20 years, fab dogs. But I am biased.

Anyway, it would be really interesting to see if this works, though it can take a long time to train them, to be medical detection dogs.

[Wingedharpy]

The link up thread says they could be ready in 8 - 10 weeks.

I can see they would be very useful, if successful, at airports and suchlike, much in the way that drug detecting dogs are utilised now.

As someone who is currently shielding, and can see no way out for us "medically extremely vulnerables", I'd like one for myself!!
A bit like a guide dog, to steer me away from potentialy infected folk, so I can be released back into the wild.
It gives me hope, but I am becoming a bit desperate.

[Peggysgettingcrazy]

Those dogs are already medical detection dogs. Thats why training is short.

But theres not many spare medical dedection dogs going to use. Those ones do take a long time. Especially since young spaniels/labs arent the most focused.

Not sure how they work for diabetics etc wether you have to pay for one.

I can imagine, if sheilding, its hoping for anything that helps. I would love to see these in airports etc.

[BarbeDeMaman]

Love the thread title

Love the idea

Love the dogs!

[MitziK]

Can I have one on prescription, please?

[PonderTweek]

The title of this thread made me chuckle.

[Likethebattle]

I hope this happens, I can see a dog thinking good guy, good guy, Ooh wrong ‘un!

[Wingedharpy]

The flaw in my cunning plan to get myself a Covid 19 tracking dog, and ultimately freedom, slowly dawned on me.

Whereas a guide dog is trained to steer its owner around and away from threats and obstacles, these little warriors will be trained to seek out the threat.

Perhaps I can ask for one that understands social distancing too.

[OneNewName]

Dogs are so clever and so hated by certain sections of mumsnet so under-rated.

I wonder how people with blind dogs are coping with social distancing, I suppose it's up to sighted people to move away, but I wonder how long it would take to train an existing guide dog to socially distance and how you would so that.

[Wingedharpy]

Not a clue, OneNewName.

I saw a poster type thing somewhere which basically said, guide dogs don't understand social distancing so, if you're standing 2 metres apart in the supermarket queue waiting to go in, don't be offended if the guide dog, and owner, stroll straight past you and walk in, thereby, queue jumping.
Guide dogs are trained to look for the safe space and walk the owner through it, according to the article.

TBH, it would be a miserable curmudgeon who would take a blind person to task for queue jumping with their dog🐕

[Likethebattle]

@OneNewName guide dog’s can’t do shoal distancing as it’s not in the training. I would be totally fine letting a guide dog plus owner stroll past the queue.

[StayAlert]

Best thread title ever

[T0tallyFuckedUpFamily]

I can well believe that dogs could be trained to do this, as they can sniff out cancer. Considering all the horrible effects coronavirus can have on the human body, it’s bound to give if a change in smell, that dogs can pick up on.

We used to have a wee dog and it suddenly started sleeping beside my husband, always at the lower part of his abdomen. It used to annoy my husband as it was like having a hot water bottle and we couldn’t understand why, as I was the one who fed, walked and mostly cared for him. Although my husband also cuddled him. A few months later my just was diagnosed with prostate cancer and as soon as the treatment kicked in (terminal cancer so it was a hormone treatment to slow down the spread) and my husband’s testosterone level dropped, the wee dog moved back to my side of the bed.

[T0tallyFuckedUpFamily]

Just = husband