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I had just finished giving a talk for the Purdue University Veterinary School when a pretty dark-haired young lady came up to me and asked me "Is it possible to have a gluten-detecting dog?" She went on to add "My sister has a condition where her sensitivity to gluten is really bad. It seems that gluten is everywhere and she keeps running into it without knowing it was there and that often causes severe reactions."
I had never heard of such a thing as a gluten-detection dog, however I explained to her that I knew of several programs where dogs were being trained to help people who have reactions to specific allergens. For example I knew of several peanut detection dogs that have been successfully used by people who have severe allergic responses to that kind of nut. The difficulty with peanut allergies is not only the problem avoiding peanuts, but sometimes other food products get cross contaminated when utensils or equipment used around peanut products are inadvertently used in the preparation of other items. Furthermore, for particularly sensitive people, direct skin contact with peanut containing products can trigger an allergic reaction. For example a young child might eat a peanut butter sandwich and then go play on a piece of playground apparatus and thus create a source of contamination for an allergic child who later wants to play on that same piece of equipment. Having a dog which alerts in such cases has proven to be extremely useful.
I took the young woman's name and email address and promised to look into the matter, although it seemed to me that this might be one of those situations which went beyond the abilities of a service dog. After some investigation I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong.
First of all you might ask why we would need a gluten-detection dog. The problem is celiac disease. For people with this illness foods containing gluten trigger an abnormal immune response that damages the small intestine. Common symptoms related to celiac disease include gas, abdominal swelling, and bloating. Mild to severe stomach pain, abnormal stools, diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, weakness, and vomiting are also frequently seen. The normal small intestine has small hair-like projections along its length known as villi which assist in the absorption of the nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy. The autoimmune response causes so much damage to these villi that they are no longer effective, thus depriving the body of needed nutrients. Furthermore celiac disease can cause the gaps between the cells in the small intestine to open so widely that they allow toxins and gluten fragments into the bloodstream which can cause disastrous results.
Keeping a diet completely free of gluten can be a challenge for celiac disease patients. Especially difficult is that elusive problem of cross contamination. Currently there is only one treatment for celiac disease, and that is the elimination of all contact with gluten. This is not easy. Gluten is basically a protein that is found in wheat, barley, and rye. While it is easy to spot some sources of gluten, such as cereals, breads, cookies, and pizza, it is also used widely as a filler, binder, or thickener. In those latter guises gluten can be hidden in all manner of food, including soy sauce and many commercial salad dressings. It is even possible to find gluten in some nonfood products such as some toothpastes, insect repellent sprays, and some cosmetic and grooming products.
The first successful program to develop gluten-detection dogs was started in Slovenia. My research into the matter suggested that the first gluten-detection dog which came to North America was trained in Slovenia and arrived in 2011. This dog was named Elias and is a handsome Beauceron. This is a big dog, typically between 70 and 100 pounds, used for guarding and herding. The breed is not well known outside of its native France. The dog's owner is Hollie Scott, who got Elias while she was a first-year student in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri. Elias was a necessary addition to Scott's life because her celiac disease is so severe that she can be ill for weeks if she eats something that has merely been sliced by a knife used previously to carve something which contained a small amount of gluten in it. Elias has provided Scott with freedom that she never had before, allowing her to even go out and eat in restaurants (which was a risky undertaking before). However a gluten detection dog is a huge undertaking and requires constant maintenance training. In effect you must continuously calibrate the dog's nose and proof him for all of the various kinds of foods that a person might encounter. Scott works with Elias every day to maintain his sharpness. When it's time for him to test something for gluten, she places a cover with holes over the item and allows Elias to sniff. When there is gluten Elias tries to pull it away from her, while if it's safe he does nothing.
It is now possible to get a gluten-detection dog trained in North America. One recent program was started by Dawn Scheu, who developed celiac disease around a decade ago. As in the case of Hollie Scott, her sensitivity to gluten was severe and she could get sick simply from eating food that was cooked on the same grill as something containing gluten. Without any prior knowledge of the European program, Scheu (who once trained search and rescue dogs) wondered if a dog could be trained to detect gluten. She asked around, contacting several service dog trainers in search of someone who would give it a try, but none believed it could be done. Ultimately she met Kathryn Watters, a FEMA-certified master dog trainer from Brighton, Michigan, who was willing to give it a try. The dog that they chose to train was Scheu's German Shorthaired Pointer puppy, Willow. The training was so successful that Scheu and Watters decided that they wanted to help others and launched their own program to train dogs to detect gluten and other allergens. They now also offer their own dogs to "sweep" restaurants or other locations when people are worried about possible contamination.
Prior to the arrival of Willow on the scene Scheu's physical condition had gotten progressively worse. She lost so much weight that she had dropped below 100 pounds and doctors had told her that if they didn't get the disease under control she had only 3 to 5 years to live. Now with the help of her gluten detection dog she has managed to stay gluten free and has recovered much of her former health. She summarizes the effect of the dog by saying simply, "Willow has given me back my life."
Stanley Coren is the author of many books including: The Wisdom of Dogs; Do Dogs Dream? Born to Bark; The Modern Dog; Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? The Pawprints of History; How Dogs Think; How To Speak Dog; Why We Love the Dogs We Do; What Do Dogs Know? The Intelligence of Dogs; Why Does My Dog Act That Way? Understanding Dogs for Dummies; Sleep Thieves; The Left-hander Syndrome
Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission
