Internet Obsessed With Dog's Life Saving Detection Skills To Protect Owner

A video of a dog that can allegedly warn his celiac owner about gluten in different foods has gone viral on TikTok.

The clip was shared by @gus.atyourservice, the TikTok account of Gus, an American cocker spaniel that's a medical alert and response service dog in training (SDiT). The video had 7 million views at the time of writing.

The dog's owner, Brooke Blair, who is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and works in the social work field, told Newsweek: "Gus has made a significant impact on the quality of my life."

It's no surprise that Gus can detect gluten because dogs have a heightened sense of smell. Research has shown that this enables them to sniff out various conditions from cancer and seizures to even stress.

According to Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, a staff veterinarian at New York City's Animal Medical Center, dogs have 60 times as many smell receptors as humans and 40 times as much brain power devoted to smell. This allows them to differentiate around 30,000 to 100,000 scents, the veterinarian noted in a June 2021 article for the American Kennel Club.

In 2018, Blair was diagnosed with celiac disease and has since "continued to struggle with eating safely, since so many things are prone to cross contamination."

Celiac disease is a chronic digestive and immune disorder that is triggered by eating foods containing gluten.

Blair said she also has a cardiac condition known as POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), to which Gus is also trained to respond.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke explains that the main symptom of POTS is orthostatic intolerance (OI). OI is a condition where an "excessively reduced volume of blood returns to the heart" after a person stands up from a lying down position. The primary symptom of OI is lightheadedness or fainting.

Blair said she has been training Gus, who turns a year old on July 13, since the first day he was brought home on September 23, 2022.

ADA.gov, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) website of the U.S. Department of Justice, explains that service animals are not "required to be certified or go through a professional training program" or "to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they're a service dog."

In a 2014 article published by the Celiac Disease Foundation, the chief executive officer of the nonprofit, Marilyn Grunzweig Geller, said "there's no protocol; there's no scientific method" for training dogs to detect gluten.

Paul Waggoner, a senior scientist of canine performance sciences at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said: "I have no reason to think that it's not feasible," in the 2014 article. "In principle, if you can identify the target that's associated with the problem, then it's feasible," he said.

Blair said: "Gus is still learning new things every day in regard to his training, and he will continue to train throughout his career as a service dog."

A caption shared with the latest viral clip reads: "Gus showing off his gluten detection task."

The footage shows Gus being presented with different foods. "That was a gluten free pretzel, so I gave mom the safe," a voice said in the clip. The dog is seen laying down in a sphinx position on the floor.

The voice later said: "Then this was a gluten pretzel, so of course I told mom it was bad." The dog is seen touching the person's hand with his mouth.

Several TikTok users were delighted by the gluten detection dog in the latest viral clip.

Anna Borini wrote: "Gluten detective," while user @katiecatmeowmeow wrote: "He's earning his paycheck!"

Cara said: "This is the cutest puppy I've ever seen."

BreatheFlowMuse said: "The cutest, goodest, gluten sniffer, fuzzy peppers everrrrr."

Nikki wrote: "Ok this is insanely adorable."

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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