Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine

New York Times  bestselling author Maria Goodavage reveals in this delightful, warm, globetrotting tour of canine research that dogs are good medicine for everyone.

 

Our definition of what a service dog does is evolving. With an unfathomably acute sense of smell and incredible neuroplasticity, dogs can be trained for a variety of tasks that go beyond commands like “fetch.” In Doctor Dogs, with her signature wit and passion, Maria Goodavage travels the United States, Europe, and Asia investigating the ways dogs are opening new avenues of health care.

 

We meet dogs and trainers who are keeping people safe during health crises—dogs who can interface with technology in case of emergency, if not actually ask Alexa to call an ambulance. Dogs are showing signs of being able to detect all kinds of cancer, heart disease, and seizures before any human notices them. Already, individuals with mental disorders rely on their service dog to get them through hallucinatory episodes. Maria spends time with families whose children have gotten relief from paralyzing anxiety decrease. Beyond such moving tales Maria takes readers behind the scenes in labs where, for example, scientists are testing whether dogs can be used at international border quarantine facilities—potentially protecting the health of a whole country. Maria also looks closer to home, reflecting on whether her own family could have had more time together if their pet had been trained in detection. Maria’s readers love her, and the emotional element in Doctor Dogs delivers powerfully alongside the fascinating new set of practices and discoveries in medical science.

 

Doctor Dogs  continues Maria’s adventure into the world of dogs and how they change our lives for the better.