![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/06\/10\/77451799-12707027-image-m-3_1699266424185.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAd Feature by People’s Postcode Lottery <\/p>\n
Opening the boot of her car, Claire Guest expected her three dogs to jump out and dash off on their walk as they usually did.<\/p>\n
But while two did just that, the third – Daisy the labrador – stayed put, staring intently at her owner before nudging her gently in the chest over and over again.<\/p>\n
Claire thought nothing of it and shooed the fox red lab out of the car. But as they walked along, something made her feel the spot her adored dog had been touching…and there was a lump.<\/p>\n
Doctors soon confirmed it was breast cancer: a tumour so deep-seated and aggressive, it probably wouldn’t have been spotted until it was too late.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Life-saving dog: Daisy the labrador with owner Claire Guest, whose cancer she sniffed out<\/p>\n
But thanks to Daisy’s early warning, the then 45-year-old Claire, from Milton Keynes, was able to undergo surgery and radiotherapy to save her life.<\/p>\n
Nowadays we know that dogs’ superior sense of smell can detect all kinds of illnesses, but when this happened in 2008, it was very different.<\/p>\n
Many simply dismissed the idea as mumbo-jumbo.<\/p>\n
Incredibly, it was Daisy’s detection work that day that helped convince the sceptics that not only does disease have a smell, but that dogs can identify it, too.<\/p>\n
Because \u2013 in an astonishing twist \u2013 her owner Claire was the co-founder of the Medical Detection Dogs charity which had been set up just months before to prove that very link.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/14\/77508349-12707027-image-a-9_1699368333498.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Claire used the evidence of Daisy detecting her cancer to prove dogs’ ability to smell disease<\/p>\n
And this was the evidence they needed.<\/p>\n
‘I was able to stand up and say, ‘This is the science, look at it,’ says Claire, now 59. ‘Then I could also say, ‘Actually, I probably wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t listened to Daisy’.<\/p>\n
‘That combination was quite powerful. It made people sit up and think.’<\/p>\n
Claire, a trained psychologist, had become convinced dogs could smell disease years before while working at another charity where a woman’s pet Dalmatian had detected her skin cancer.<\/p>\n
After meeting a similar convert, Dr John Church, the pair set up MDD and soon proved dogs could smell bladder cancer in humans. In fact, Daisy was integral in that discovery too.<\/p>\n
Soon they were proving there were many diseases dogs could detect and the charity started a programme to train dogs to detect hypoglycemic attacks in Type 1 diabetes patients. It’s since expanded to cover many more conditions.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/06\/10\/77278483-12707027-image-a-5_1699267416420.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Claire, pictured with her three adopted dogs at the MDD training centre in Buckinghamshire, went on to co-found the Medical Detection Dogs charity with Dr John Church<\/p>\n
Perhaps it’s not surprising as the canine sense of smell is quite astonishing: whereas humans have around five million receptors in our noses, they have 350 million.<\/p>\n
Which is why they can always tell the second you’ve opened a bag of treats, no matter how quietly you’ve done it.<\/p>\n
Nowadays the charity has grown so much, more than 80 people in the UK have a Medical Alert Assistance dog placed with them by MDD.<\/p>\n
But it doesn’t come cheap: last year their training and research cost around \u00a32m, all of which comes from fundraising.<\/p>\n
This is helped by players of People\u2019s Postcode Lottery who have raised a huge \u00a31.7 million for the charity since 2018.<\/p>\n
‘Without their support, we couldn’t have achieved anything like we have achieved and during this terrible post-Covid period we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re able to do,’ says Claire, now 59.<\/p>\n
‘We’re working really hard to raise funds from other sources, but knowing the players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting our work for the year enables us to make operational decisions that – without that confidence – we’d really have to consider.<\/p>\n
‘It’s huge, I can’t say enough how huge it is.’<\/p>\n
The money is spent on many things. One is training Medical Alert Assistant Dogs who live with people with conditions such as Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), Addison’s disease, allergies, diabetes and other endocrine disorders.<\/p>\n
They give their owners advance warning of any flare-up of the disease they’re about to have so they can either take medication or get somewhere safe.<\/p>\n
In doing so, they help massively cut down the number of people needing hospital treatment each year.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/14\/77278467-12707027-Thanks_to_the_generosity_of_players_of_People_s_Poscode_Lottery_-a-8_1699367952399.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Thanks to the generosity of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Medical Detection Dogs has received \u00a31.7m since 2018, which allows the charity to plan for the future<\/p>\n
Player support has also allowed MDD to expand their operation into all parts of the UK without people constantly needing to travel to their Milton Keynes base for aftercare.<\/p>\n
But that’s not the only vital work the charity is carrying out. Their Bio-Detection Dogs, who are trained to spot disease, are working to see if they can prove that Parkinson’s has an odour which they can smell early on \u2013 up to five or ten years before the onset of symptoms. The charity also believes the same may be true of prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and bacterial infections.<\/p>\n
This gives hope for new treatments as currently there’s no cure, and the condition is usually detected very late, by which time it’s difficult to do anything.<\/p>\n
And that’s the point of MDD’s Bio-Detection Dogs programme \u2013 it has the potential to change diagnoses and outcomes forever. Even for problems you’d never dream of.<\/p>\n
‘One of the biggest changes to older people’s independence is a fear of falling,’ explains Claire. ‘A lot of people get very confused, they have a fall and break a hip or shoulder, then they go into hospital and when they get home their independent living is changed.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/17\/10\/77278497-12707027-Next_generation_Medical_Detection_Dog_Florin_the_fox_red_labrado-a-2_1700218473129.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Next generation: Medical Detection Dog Florin, the fox red labrador who is the niece of Daisy<\/p>\n
‘But falls are often caused by a urinary tract infection (UTI), and this is nearly always caused by the E.coli bacteria which we’ve proved dogs can smell.<\/p>\n
‘In time we hope we can offer dogs trained to find early UTIs who can go into areas where there are a lot of more vulnerable people, such as retirement homes, and indicate if they think someone has a UTI. They could then have a test and treatment.<\/p>\n
‘One of the highest intakes into hospital is elderly people with UTIs \u2013 it’s massive \u2013 and it’s a life-changing experience for them. We could help so many.’<\/p>\n
Their research has been so powerful one US scientist – Dr Andreas Mershin of MIT in Boston \u2013 is using it to develop a sensor that can detect disease by scent.<\/p>\n
And it’s all thanks to that day in 2008 when Daisy detected Claire’s illness. Sadly, the beautiful labrador died in 2018, aged 13.<\/p>\n
‘Having her put to sleep was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,’ says her owner. ‘She died of breast cancer and one of the saddest things is that I couldn’t do for her what she did for me.’<\/p>\n
But her legacy lives on as the vital work she was involved in continues to save lives both in Britain and abroad.<\/p>\n
Taking part in People’s Postcode Lottery gives you the chance to share \u00a31million with your neighbours – while also raising vital funds for charities.<\/p>\n
For a \u00a312 a month\u2020 subscription you will be entered into every draw, with prizes announced every day ..\u00a0<\/p>\n
That includes a bumper \u00a31million for one winning postcode every Saturday as part of the Millionaire Street draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There’s also \u00a31,000 to be won every weekday for every ticket in twenty postcodes, \u00a330,000 for every winning ticket in one postcode every Sunday, and a monthly prize of at least \u00a33.2million for one lucky area.<\/p>\n
The prospect of winning big on a regular basis is, naturally, a huge attraction. But signing up won’t just benefit you.<\/p>\n
At least 33 per cent of the price of every People’s Postcode Lottery ticket goes to good causes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Players have raised more than \u00a31billion so far for charities.<\/p>\n
Click HERE<\/span><\/span> to sign up today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Medical Detection Dogs is a registered charity in England and Wales (1124533) and in Scotland (SC04443). Funding awarded from Postcode Animal Trust, a registered Scottish charity (SC043837).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2020\u00a312 to be entered into all draws, paid monthly in advance. The estimated max possible ticket prize from the December millions and Millionaire Street prize draws is \u00a3391,850.\u00a0Winning postcodes for December\u2019s draws announced daily from 9 December 2023 to 5 January 2024. T&Cs apply. People\u2019s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries for 20 charities, each has one draw a month and receives a minimum of 33% from ticket sales. To find out draw dates, which good cause promotes and benefits from each draw, and the relevant prizes, see Prize Draw Calendar at www.postcodelottery.co.uk\/good-causes\/draw-calendar. Not available in NI. Conditions apply. Postcode Lottery Limited is incorporated in England and Wales and is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence numbers 000-000829-R-102511 and 000-000829-R-102513. Registered office: Postcode Lottery Limited, 2nd Floor, 31 Chertsey Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4HD. Company reg. no. 04862732. VAT reg. no848 3165 07. Trading address: 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4ET. \u00a9 2023 Postcode Lottery Ltd.\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/06\/10\/71621991-12707027-image-a-1_1699264916361.jpg\")
<\/p>\n