“Magnus: The Embodiment of Unconditional Loyalty and Comfort
Meet Magnus, a faithful canine companion who demonstrated unwavering loyalty when his owner, Brian Benson, faced a deep coma. For three consecutive days, Magnus refused to leave Benson’s side, leaving both doctors and onlookers deeply moved by this extraordinary display of devotion.
The loyalty of dogs is a well-known treasure, and we often turn to them for their steadfast dedication and unwavering affection. Magnus, however, takes this loyalty to a whole new level.
Brian Benson’s journey began with respiratory distress, leading to a three-night hospital stay as doctors diligently worked to diagnose his condition. Hospital stays can be incredibly trying, especially when awaiting potentially distressing news. But throughout this challenging period, Magnus remained an unwavering presence, bringing solace to Benson and providing support to his young daughters. Even though family visitation hours were limited, Magnus was granted permission to remain by Benson’s side throughout.
Magnus, a trained service dog, is a six-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever with a unique ability to care for his human companion. Together, Benson and Magnus form a dedicated team, often visiting terminally ill patients and grieving families to offer comfort and solace.
In this instance, Magnus took on the role of a comforting presence for Brian Benson. Initially adopted as a beloved family pet, his innate capacity to care for those around him prompted Benson and his family to have Magnus trained as a therapy dog.
Benson has expressed overwhelming gratitude for Magnus’ unwavering companionship during his hospital stay. It was during this challenging time that Benson received the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, indicating a diminished functioning of his heart.
Benson shared his heartwarming story on social media, accompanied by touching videos that showcase Magnus sleeping beside him and providing comfort to his daughters during these trying circumstances.
The bond between Magnus and Benson serves as a powerful testament to the incredible loyalty and boundless love that dogs wholeheartedly offer. They remind us that in our darkest moments, our furry friends can be a beacon of light and unwavering support.
Can dogs really detect Covid-19 infections faster and more accurately than a lateral flow test?
Results indicated that not only can dogs detect Covid faster, but they can also do so in a non-intrusive manner – so no need to swab your throat or nose
Dogs can detect Covid-19 faster and more accurately than a PCR test, a new study shows.
Researchers looked at the ability of canines to recognise the virus and its variants, even when they are obscured by other viruses, like those from common colds and flu.
More than 400 scientists from over 30 countries contributed to the study as well as 147 scent dogs, according to the findings published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine.
After analysing many studies covering both field and clinical experiments, Professor Dickey and Junqueira found that dogs who are trained to sniff out scents are “as effective and often more effective” than antigen tests.
A total of 53 dogs were trained to sniff out Covid scents, while 37 were not and scientists found that the dogs that were not trained were in some cases “slightly superior” to those that were pre-trained.
“The previously untrained dogs have the advantage that they are not as prone to indicating on scents other than the Covid–19 associated scent,” the paper said.
The results indicated that not only can dogs detect Covid faster, but they can also do so in a non-intrusive manner. This means you won’t need to put a swab in your throat or nose.
How can dogs detect the virus?
This essentially comes down to the dog’s highly evolved nose with its ability to sense out smells quicker.
Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to about six million in humans. And the part of a dog’s brain that is devoted to analysing smells is about “40 times greater” than humans. Canines also have ‘neophilia’, which means they are attracted to new and interesting odours
And so, with all these enhancements, dogs can detect very low concentrations of odours associated with Covid infections.
“They can detect the equivalent of one drop of an odorous substance in 10.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” Professor Dickey said. “For perspective, this is about three orders of magnitude better than with scientific instrumentation.”
Scientists also found that in some cases, the animals were also able to detect the virus in pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, “whose viral load was too low for conventional tests to work.”
Professor Dickey has said that dogs can also differentiate Covid and its different variants in the presence of other respiratory viruses. This included the common cold or flu.
“They’re much more effective. In fact, one of the authors that we quote in the paper commented that the RT-PCR test is not the gold standard anymore. It’s the dog. And they’re so quick,” he added. “They can give you the yes or no within seconds if they’re directly smelling you.”
How was the study conducted to see if dogs can really detect Covid-19?
In some studies, the dogs gave a person a quick sniff, sitting down to see if the person has Covid. In another study, the dog was given a sweat sample to smell for a few minutes.
The press release has said that scent dogs, such as beagles, basset hounds and coonhounds are the ideal candidates for sniffing out the virus, given their “natural tendencies to rely on odours to relate to the world.”
But the studies which the researchers analysed showed a variety of dogs were up for the challenge and were able to sniff out the Covid odour. With a few weeks of training, puppies, older dogs, purebred and mixed breeds, both male and female were able to sniff such odours out and “all performed admirably,” the Eureka Alert press release said.
Although there has been success with dogs detecting such viruses, researchers believe there are still many challenges with using dogs for medical diagnoses.
“There’s quite a bit of research, but it’s still considered by many as a kind of a curiosity,” said Professor Dickey.
In conclusion, Professor Dickey and Junqueira said after reviewing the studies, believe that scent dogs deserve “their place as a serious diagnostic methodology that could be particularly useful during future pandemics, potentially as part of rapid routine health screenings in public spaces.”
“Perhaps, most importantly, we argue that the impressive international quality and quantity of COVID scent dog research described in our paper for the first time, demonstrates that medical scent dogs are finally ready for a host of mainstream medical applications,” they added.
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