Researchers to Study If Dogs Can Detect Prostate Cancer

by Lori Ennis

Published: January 2nd, 2017

researchers to study if dogs can detect prostate cancer

A new three-year research trial out of England is looking to see whether or not dogs can detect prostate cancer in humans, and if so, allow earlier treatment for the cancer.

In Milton Keynes, England, a research project partially funded by the National Health Service and overseen by the charity Medical Detection Dogs will attempt to prove how accurately dogs can detect cancer in humans. The study will utilize eight dogs of random breeds, including Labradors and Spaniels, who are receiving training to sniff out cancer using samples from real patients who have been diagnosed cancer already.

The dogs being used in the study are all pets who are living with families, and were selected because of their incredible sniffing abilities. A dog’s sniffer can detect what would equate to a single drop of blood in an area as large as two Olympic-sized swimming pools!

Rob Harris, the bio-detection training manager of the study says that the dogs are being trained to look for the volatile signature for prostate cancer, and are using their amazing sense of smell to do so. They are training to analyze the chemicals that come from urine samples, and then to further sniff for a pattern that resembles the signature pattern specific to prostate cancer.

Chief Executive of Medical Detection Dogs Dr. Claire Guest says that the dog is a highly sophisticated bio-sensor with a furry coat and waggy tail. That said, the science results are no less real because the subjects are dogs, and that if they can prove that the dogs have an accuracy level that is 90% reliable, they would then have the most reliable form of testing for prostate cancer available. The dog’s ability to do so can make a huge difference in cancer detection.

That’s why the charity believes dogs can make a real difference to prostate cancer detection. Though prostate cancer is common and affects one in seven men, it can be difficult to diagnose as there is no one specific test to do so. Even current blood tests fail to find cancer in up to 15% of men, while giving false positive information in over three-quarters of cases. To be able to have a way to detect cancer more specifically and quickly can make all the difference in the efficacy of treatment once detected.

While Dr. Guest believes this work can make a huge impact in the way prostate cancer is detected, and then in turn, treated, there is still some concern about whether the science will be valid. Dr. Iain Frame of Prostate Cancer UK says that they are not as sure that the study will show success as the researchers are already having issues with the dogs being able to identify between aggressive and nonaggressive cancer. Dr. Frame’s concern is that the detection of something in someone’s urine by the dogs may be just that–and still require other assessments for being able to determine whether or not it is an aggressive cancer.

Still, researchers at Medical Detection Dogs are hopeful, and say their trial will look at ways to account for those concerns, as well as how to differentiate between the severity of the cancers found. It’s their hope that their work will lead to the National Health Service to use their dogs in screening programs designed specifically for cancer detection.

Lori Ennis

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The Nose Knows! Study Finds Dogs Can Detect Heat With Their Noses

As if we didn’t already know how amazing a dog’s nose was, it turns out they’re even more incredible than we thought! Researchers have found that dogs can sense thermal radiation–also known as mammalian body heat. A new study from researchers at Lund University and Eötvös Loránd University confirmed that dogs could sense the body heat of mammalian prey, and this could explain how dogs who have impaired hearing, sight or even smell can still be successful hunters. Detecting this weak thermal radiation is a capability that only a handful of animals are known to have. Those animals include a common vampire bat, black fire beetles and certain snakes. They use that thermal radiation sensing for hunting their prey. The skin on the tips of mammals’ noses around their nostrils is called the rhinarium. Most mammals have naked and smooth skin on their rhinaria. Related: What is a Scenthound? Dogs, however, are different. Their rhinaria are moist, full of nerves and colder than the ambient temperature. Researchers believe this is what gives them the ability to detect smell AND heat. The researchers trained three pet dogs to choose between a warm object (approx. 88 degrees F) and an ambient, or room-temperature object each placed the same distance away. The dogs couldn’t smell or see the difference between the objects; even the scientists could only detect the differences by touch. After they were trained, the dogs were tested in double-blind experiments and all three were successful in detecting the objects that gave off the weak thermal radiation. The researchers also scanned the brains of 13 pet dogs, all of different breeds, in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. While doing so, they gave the dogs objects that emitted neutral or weak thermal radiation. They saw that the left somatosensory cortex in the dogs’ brains was more responsive to the objects with warm thermal stimulus than compared to the neutral ones. The somatosensory cortex delivers inputs from the nose to the brain. Related: Study: Dogs Use Scent To Detect Low Blood Sugar In Diabetics [Video] The experiments combined led researchers to confirm that dogs can sense weak hot spots and their brains, like vampire bats, are activated by infrared radiation. This finding may be why some dogs are so successful in finding bodies in rubble after natural disasters, or even when people are lost—they combine their sense of smell and this amazing ability to be even more awesome.

Can Dogs Detect Cancer?

A dog’s nose is a powerful tool used for many different purposes. But can dogs detect cancer? Read on to find out more. Every year, more than 1.7 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute, over 38% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lives. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and scientists are constantly working on ways to detect it in the early stages when it is still treatable. Though cancer screenings have progressed by leaps and bounds, it is the more unconventional screening methods that are the most impressive. One of the most impressive cancer detection methods might be right under your nose or, more specifically, your dog’s nose. Keep reading to learn more about whether dogs can detect cancer. Related: Dog Detects Early-Stage Lung Cancer With Incredible Accuracy How Strong is Your Dog’s Nose? You already know that your dog’s sense of smell is stronger than your own, but do you know just how strong your dog’s nose really is? Your dog has the ability to pick out the subtlest of scents, filtering them out from all of the other smells around it. To put it in numeric terms, your dog smells in parts per trillion – that’s the equivalent of a drop of blood in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Your dog’s sense of smell is 50,000 times as strong as yours. When you walk into a room, the first thing you do to get your bearings is look around. The first thing your dog does when he enters a room is take a good whiff, picking out all of the individual smells. Your dog’s nose is extremely complex and has the ability to process scents in a unique way. Each nostril can smell independently of the other and your dog’s brain puts together those myriad smells into a 3-D picture in the dog’s brain. Related: How Strong is a Dog’s Nose? How Do Dogs Detect Cancer? It makes sense that your dog can follow the scent of a prey animal and that he can tell from the other room when you open a bag of chips. But how do dogs detect cancer? Dogs can be trained to sniff out everything from explosives to drugs. Though scientists don’t fully understand what a dog is picking up when he detects cancer, dogs have been trained to detect cancer in urine and breath samples. One example is a study using 5 dogs – two Portuguese Water Dogs and three Labradors – who were trained to detect breast and lung cancer. The dogs were asked to smell samples from 169 individuals, 86 of whom had cancer. The results? All five dogs accurately identified the samples from the cancer patients. The tricky part about training a dog to detect cancer is targeting the specific scent you want the dog to identify. Cancer scent is a complex combination of thousands of particulars that are completely unique to each person. It takes hundreds of samples or more for the dog to learn to detect healthy breath and to be able to differentiate it from the scent of cancer. Though there are plenty of amazing stories about cancer-detecting dogs, there is still a great deal to be learned about how dogs do it and whether this ability can be harnessed for medical purposes. Time will tell whether man’s best friend has any true cancer-detecting potential.

Odor Detection Dogs Are Being Trained to Sniff Out Parkinson’s Disea

A dog’s nose knows… alot! Researchers in the UK are looking into the possibility that dogs could be used to sniff out Parkinson’s disease. We know our pooches can be walking medical marvels. Originally they astounded us with their ability to detect the scent of bladder cancer, eventually that expanded to include skin, prostate, lung, breast and colorectal cancers – all from just a breath sample. In fact, their ability to peg these diseases was presented in a 2011 study out of Japan that showed a staggering 88% accuracy when detecting breast cancer, 97% accuracy with lung cancer and for colorectal cancer they were able to detect the disease 98% of the time. And while medical researchers are still trying to figure out exactly how they do this (it’s thought that they’re picking up on microscopic chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) all are keen to expand on the canine repertoire. Related: Research to Study if Dogs can Detect Prostate Cancer Such is the case with Dr. Claire Guest, Co-founder and CEO of Medical Detection Dogs in the UK who has taken on the challenge of training her detection dogs to identify Parkinson’s disease. Guest states that “every single disease causes a biochemical change in our body which results in a distinct smell”. This theory seems to be borne out by the ability of the trained dogs to pick up on the distinct odors related to different cancers. Because there is no definitive test for Parkinson’s, the ability to use scent markers for detection is huge and means that those afflicted by this chronic, degenerative neurological disorder can be diagnosed early on with treatments started immediately to help stave off symptoms and extend quality of life. Related: Magnolia Paws for Compassion Raises Awareness for Seizure Detection Dogs As for the dogs trained in her detection facility, Guest says the best breeds are those that naturally love to use their nose for searching. Several came from area rescues and each goes home with staff or volunteer at night – she has a no-kennel policy. The dogs are taught to find a specific odor and when they do, they receive a reward. They are also taught to let their handler know if the smell they are seeking is not present – so no chance of picking up a mixed message. The cost to train each pooch over a 6 month period can run approximately $9,000 USD with a further $9,000 USD to cover his costs and that of his handler, each year thereafter. While it may seem steep, when you consider the billions of dollars spent on research, medications, and hospitalizations each year, this keen-scented pooch approach really is just a drop in the bucket.

Dog Detects Early-Stage Lung Cancer With Incredible Accuracy

A new study has shown that a trained dog was able to detect early-stage lung cancer with a high degree of accuracy, and gives hope that future detection may be more commonplace. In a controlled study that included air samples from 30-patients who had solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN)–25 of whom had stage 1A Lung Cancer, mixed with 77 control air samples that were from healthy patients as well as those with pulmonary disease, a trained Labrador Retriever named Blat was able to detect patients who had the lung cancer with a high degree of accuracy. Related: Dog Gets New 3D-Printed Skull After Battling Cancer None of the samples had any treatment and the participants of the study did not eat, drink or smoke for 30 minutes before they blew into a crystal tube. The tube was put in an open box that had an open side so that Blat could smell them. Blat attempted to smell variations of breath sample combinations that included cancer positive, healthy and obstructive lung disease 900 times. In an astonishing result, Blat chose to sit correctly by the malignant samples 879 times. Of the 30 patients with SPN, he was able to correctly identify 27. Once Blat identified samples, his results were compared with final pathology reports. Blat’s response rates had a predictive positive value of 0.97 and predictive negative value of 0.99. The researchers trained Blat using a progressive prize-dependent methodology. He was given breath samples that were from those with and without the nodules, and he was rewarded when he detected the SNP samples. Study author Dr.Guiaro said that because trained dogs can accurately identify malignant SPN, they can be included in ways to manage diagnoses in patients. Blat proved that the exhaled breath gas of patients with lung cancer is distinct in odor, and they are now challenged to look at how to identify consistently with appropriate technology. She believes that dogs can be significantly helpful in lung cancer screening programs. Related: Researchers to Study if Dogs Can Detect Prostate Cancer Dr. Guirao said that because more than 75% of lung cancer patients are diagnosed when the disease has gone past a point of care opportunity, early screening can make a big difference in treatment rates. Training Blat took about five months, Dr. Guiaro said and the beauty in dogs for assessment is that almost any dog (except plane snout dogs) can be trained to screen.

Meet Maverick, the Winner of the 2023 American Humane Hero Dog Award

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A Dog is Adopted After 7 Years in Shelter After An Emotional Discovery

One pet shelter in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, has been the home of a darling rescue dog named Ella for 7 long years. But the long wait for a happy ending is finally over – as Ella was recently adopted, and under very special circumstances at that. The staff at  Bloomsburg Animal Resource Center have titled this “an extremely special adoption”, and advised readers that “they might want to grab a tissue real quick for this one”.Ella had been at the shelter for the last seven years, making her the center’s longest resident. But recently, things took a turn for the better, when Ella was spotted by Kaitlyn, a resident who quickly fell in love with the rescue pooch. When coming to the center, Kaitlyn said that her long-time furry friend, Jo, recently passed away, and now she was ready to meet a new dog.And as soon as the two met, the match was made. It was obvious that they were meant for each other. Ella quickly made everyone know that Kaitlyn was her “human”. Usually, it wasn’t so. Ella was a victim of abuse and had a long history of fear and aggression. It would take several visits for her to get relaxed around strangers. But with Kaitlyn, this was not the case. The bond was near-instant. “She immediately walked over to Kaitlyn with no hesitation, allowing her to give Ella scratches and pets right away,” the staff of the adoption center said.At the end of the adoption meeting, when Kaitlyn was about to leave, she suddenly noticed something that made her overwhelmingly emotional. What she spotted was the bandana that Ella was wearing around her neck. Her eyes welling with tears, Kaitlyn said to the staff that it was the exact bandana that belonged to her recently passed away dog, Jo. She said that after the passing, she donated all the bandanas to the center. “This bandana that Ella is wearing, it’s Jo’s. I donated them all here when he passed,” Kaitlyn said, quickly showing a picture of Jo wearing it. The symbolism and the connection were incredible. It was a sign that the two were meant to be together. When they realized what happened, the staff was moved to tears: “Out of the 20 dogs in our shelter right now, this bandana. This specific bandana. Jo’s bandana. It was on Ella.”Later, Kaitlyn said that the bandana is a sign: “I like to think of it as Jo’s stamp of approval.”And so it was, that after 7 long years of waiting, the kind and gentle Ella found her new forever home, and a human friend who would treat her right.“Every morning, Ella used to pop up off her bed and greet you at the door of her kennel right away,” the staff at the Animal Resource Center said. “We’ll miss that tomorrow, it’ll be such a bittersweet moment realizing that as we pause to reflect on a few of our favorites times with Ella — but my goodness the amount of pure happiness we will feel every day knowing Ella finally got what she deserved: ELLA GOT ADOPTED.”

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A Small Cat Family Was Found Living in the Ceiling of a Restaurant

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Human-Cat Amputee Duo Teams Up To Help Others Through Animal Therapy

Juanita Mengel from Amanda, Ohio, and her five-year-old dilute tortoiseshell cat Lola-Pearl, make a unique therapy team. The 67-year-old Mengel is missing a leg, and her fluffy feline is missing a left hind leg. This special duo is one of an estimated 200 therapy cat teams registered in the US through Pet Partners. This nonprofit organization puts together owners and their pets as volunteer teams. They aim to provide animal-assisted therapy in hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. “A therapy animal is an animal who’s been assessed based on their ability to meet new people and not just tolerate the interaction but actively enjoy it,” said Taylor Chastain Griffin, the national director of animal-assisted interventions advancement at Pet Partners. This organization registered nine different species of animals as therapy animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, birds, horses, mini pigs, alpacas, and lamas. Therapy cats are less common than therapy dogs, and people are often surprised to see cats in this role. However, Griffin studies the impact of therapy cats and emphasizes the importance of cats in therapy teams. There’s a lot of research on other therapy animals, especially dogs, so there is often a ‘shock factor’ associated with therapy cats because many people don’t know these felines exist. “They go into a setting and people are like ‘Whoa, there’s a cat on a leash. What’s happening?’” said Griffin. According to her, cats inspire people to connect to them in a way that’s not seen with other kinds of therapy animals. Juanita Mengel knew that her cat Lola-Pear would be an excellent therapy animal a month after she adopted her. The feline’s therapeutic potential became clear after Mengel took her to an amputee conference. “She was so good with people I just knew she would be a good therapy cat,” said Mengel. “People really were attracted to her, too.”During a recent limb loss support group, Mengel pushed Lola-Pearl around in a cat stroller labeled “Therapy Cat’, so participants could pet the cat as she woke from a nap. When she wasn’t sitting in a stroller, Lola-Pearl could be found brushing against participants’ legs or cuddling in their laps, bringing a smile to the face of every person she decided was worthy of her company. “She’s very intuitive of people,” said Mengel.Although Lola-Pearl is very special, she isn’t the only cat Mengel owns. Mengel, who lost her leg after years of surgeries following a near-fatal car accident, is a mom to seven cats, most of whom have disabilities. “They find you, you don’t find them,” she added.Lola-Pearl was only a few weeks old when she was found with her back legs completely twisted together. The kitten was unable to walk and was brought to Mengel’s friend at a shelter in Missouri. Unfortunately, the vets there couldn’t help the feline. The shelter located a specialist in Iowa who was able to splint Lola-Pearl’s legs in order to save them. However, it was clear that the left hind leg was beyond saving and the vets decided to amputate. Mengel adopted Lola-Pearl after she recovered from the surgery and they formed the unique therapy team. After everything Mengel has been through, she is extremely grateful for Lola-Pearl and appreciates all the good work they do together. “It’s a really rewarding experience,” she said. “I get just as much out of it as the people that I visit.” Join the PetGuide community. Get the latest pet news and product recommendations by subscribing to our newsletter here.

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What to Know About Cat Reproduction

With a better understanding of feline reproduction, you can take steps to prevent unwanted litters, and you’ll know what to expect if you have an intact female or male.What does it mean when a queen (intact female cat) is in heat? How long does a pregnancy last? And why does it seem that cats are so good at reproducing? Below are the basics to help you get started.  There Are Multiple Stages in the Cat Heat CycleA cat’s estrous cycle, also known as her heat cycle, consists of multiple phases. Also, females are seasonally polyestrous, so they can go into heat more than once throughout the breeding season.The stages of a cat’s heat cycle are:Proestrus – During this phase, which will last about a day or two, you probably won’t notice any obvious changes in your cat.Estrus – During this phase, which lasts about a week on average, a female cat will behave in a way that lets males know that she wants to mate.Interestrus – If a cat doesn’t mate, she’ll go into this phase, which can also last about a week on average, until she goes into proestrus again. If a queen mates, ovulates, and becomes pregnant, she will enter diestrus.If a queen isn’t in a heat cycle at all, she’s in anestrus, which can last months.Cats Can Get Pregnant When They’re a Few Months OldCats become sexually mature around 6 months of age, on average, but it can happen even sooner than that. For example, a female can go into heat when she’s a mere four months old.This means that even kittens can mate and get pregnant. If you have intact male and female kittens, this is definitely something to be aware of. Talk to your veterinarian about the best time to spay or neuter your feline companions to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Cat Pregnancy Is Roughly Two Months LongA cat’s pregnancy can be shorter at 60 days or longer at 71 days. On average, a cat will give birth in about nine weeks, or 63 to 65 days. In other words, the pregnancy will be roughly two months long.On average, a cat will have four kittens, but she might have just one or she might have six or more. A queen’s age may affect the size of her litter—for example, a cat who’s pregnant for the first time is more likely to have a smaller litter, as is an older queen.After giving birth, a cat might go into heat again sooner than you think. It might even happen while her kittens are still nursing. So, if you’re caring for a mother and her litter, it’s important to prevent another pregnancy by keeping her safe indoors and away from intact males. Cats Are Induced OvulatorsWhat’s interesting about cats is that they’re induced ovulators. Put simply, when cats mate, the female ovulates, releasing eggs from her ovaries. And since the eggs are released with mating, it times out in a way that boosts the odds of pregnancy.A queen typically needs to mate multiple times before eggs are released, and she could mate with more than one male while she’s in heat.  A Litter of Kittens Can Have Different FathersAs mentioned above, a queen will mate more than once while she’s in heat. Well, another interesting fact about cats is that they can mate with more than one male while they’re in heat, so they could end up with kittens that have different fathers.In other words, a single litter of kittens could have two or more fathers. This is known as superfecundation.There Are Several Signs of Pregnancy in CatsHow can you tell if a cat is pregnant? Even though there are going to be several signs as the fetuses develop, you might not notice anything right away.You might first notice the queen’s nipples becoming more obvious. This is followed by weight gain that will eventually cause her belly to be big and round. Changes in behavior are also often seen in pregnant cats. Her appetite will increase, she may become more needy and affectionate, and she’ll look for a nest where she can give birth safely and comfortably.If you are caring for a pregnant cat, consider getting a product like the Sport Pet Pop Open Pet Kennel, which features two entryways, has a waterproof bottom, and comes with a removable, machine washable pad. She might view this as the perfect nesting box, and you’ll feel good knowing she’ll be secure in there with her kittens.

FDA Approves New Treatment for Anxiety and Fear in Cats

It’s no secret that most cats get really stressed out when they have to leave the house, especially for a trip to the veterinarian. And the anxiety and fear that your pet experiences can certainly affect you as a pet parent as well, making you feel awful about having to put your cat through such a scary experience.The good news is there are things you can try to help reduce the stress your kitty feels, and one of the latest solutions is a new treatment recently approved by the FDA.Bonqat for CatsIn November 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pregabalin, also known as Bonqat, for cats.The oral solution is not a sedative; instead, it affects the neurotransmitters that are involved in acute anxiety and fear. Therefore, it can be used to reduce the stress experienced by cats who are being transported for any reason, and it can be helpful for those who get frightened when they go to the vet.To determine if this medicine would be effective, cats were given either a placebo or Bonqat before being transported by car and examined by a veterinarian (the cats had a history of being fearful and/or anxious under those circumstances). The results? While roughly one-third of the kitties who got the placebo had a positive response, just over half of those given the medicine did better while being transported and examined. Also, over the course of two examinations, 77% of the kitties who took Bonqat had less fear and anxiety, while 46% of those given the placebo exhibited an improvement in their fear and anxiety levels.Discuss Bonqat with Your VeterinarianYou can only get Bonqat with a prescription from your veterinarian, so discuss its pros and cons to determine if this medicine would be right for your cat based on factors like age and medical conditions. And bear in mind that side effects, such as ataxia, vomiting, and lethargy, might occur with Bonqat.To reap the benefits of Bonqat, you simply give it to your cat about 1.5 hours prior to transporting them or taking them to the vet. This medicine is a liquid, and it can be given to your pet with a bit of food.Also, there are some precautions that need to be taken while administering this medicine to your cat. For example, it shouldn’t make contact with your eyes, mucous membranes, or skin. So, in addition to talking to your vet about how to use it correctly to ensure your cat gets the best results, you also want to be well-informed about how to handle this medicine safely.For more information about Bonqat and how it works, click here.Join the PetGuide community. Get the latest pet news and product recommendations by subscribing to our newsletter here.

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Newfoundland Dogs Deliver Your Tree at This US Christmas Tree Farm

“It’s a great way to expose people to the joy of Christmas but also teach people about Newfoundland dogs,” explained Lindsay Eshelman when asked about her family farm. “They’re big, and sometimes people are scared of big dogs, and we want to show that they’re gentle giants.”The Esheman family’s love of the breed is evident, with four Newfoundland dogs currently among their ranks. But they didn’t want to stop there. By inviting Newfies from far and wide to come together, they have rightfully earned the title “The Newfoundland Farm.” The event has become a big part of what they do, a tradition they excitedly look forward to year after year.“We are a destination for these dogs,” Eshelman said. “We actually have had people drive all the way from Vermont, Maine, Ohio – those are ten-plus hour-long drives.”Are you interested in joining the festivities next year, but your dog doesn’t quite fit the breed? Don’t worry! Their Facebook states that all dogs are welcome, not just Newfies. If your dog isn’t keen on public spaces, that’s okay too! Dog lovers are welcome to join in with or without a dog. There will be plenty of adorable pups eager to enjoy your attention.So, start planning your trip to Pennsylvania next year to participate in Newfoundland Day and make some unique holiday memories.Join the PetGuide community. Get the latest pet news and product recommendations by subscribing to our newsletter here.

Britain's Beloved Breed, the Scottish Terrier, Faces Extinction

Once an icon of British culture, the Scottish terrier is now facing extinction. The Scottie has a distinctive silhouette of a short-legged but sturdy dog with furnishings at the beard, legs, and lower body.These mighty pooches decorated everything from the Monopoly board to designer bags, and shortbread tins. However, the Kennel Club has placed the Scottish terrier on its “at watch” list after only 406 puppies were registered by breeders in 2023.The number of registered Scotties has been plummeting for five consecutive years, but this is a record low.The Scottie was the most popular in the 1930s when there were more than 5,800 registered puppies in a single year. Presidents Franklin D Roosevelt and George W Bush enjoyed the company of Scottie dogs, while countless celebrities including Dorothy Parker and Charles Lindbergh owned a Scottish terrier. Originally bred to hunt foxes, badgers, and other vermin in the Highlands, the Scottish terrier has a loyal, fateful, and bold nature, but is never aggressive. Scotties are dignified, self-assured, independent, and highly intelligent dogs that make wonderful companions to people of all ages.Unfortunately, the Scottie isn’t the only dog that has fallen out of favor with British dog lovers. On the Kennel Club’s “at watch” list are also the English pointer, the rough collie, the wire fox terrier, the Sussex spaniel, the curly-coated retriever, the otterhound, the Gordon setter, the Norwich terrier, and the Manchester terrier. “The Scottish terrier has been such an icon and recognizable breed in the UK for decades and means so much to so many different people, so these latest figures are really worrying,” said Bill Lambart, a spokesman for the Kennel Club.On the other end of the popularity spectrum are Bernese mountain dogs and miniature longhaired Dachshunds, which saw the biggest rise in registrations. The English setter, the Jack Russel terrier, and the Yorkshire terrier also experienced a surge in popularity. Brits are lucky to have more than two hundred wonderful dog breeds to choose from. Each of these breeds has unique personality and character traits and make amazing companions. However, most dogs seen in the parks and streets come from the top ten most popular breeds.“People often opt for well-known choices and simply forget to dig a little deeper, with the worrying knock-on effect that not only are some of our most iconic breeds in decline but also that people might not be getting the perfect match for them,” said Lambert. “People simply forget there are so many different dog breeds, with different personalities and characteristics, and it’s not just the well-known ones that could be a great match for our lifestyles.” The Kennel Club is pleased to see that some of the country’s native breeds, like the English setter, are regaining their popularity. However, the organization also stresses that many breeds are at risk of extinction only because they are no longer fashionable. The top ten most popular breeds in the UK, including the French bulldog, Labrador retriever, and Cocker spaniel, account for more than 60 percent of annual puppy registrations for all breeds. Despite the low registration numbers, there’s still hope for the Scottish terrier. Breed enthusiasts and clubs have started to promote the breed’s unique traits, in hopes of increasing the public’s interest in this amazing breed. The plan to educate the public about the Scottish terrier’s character, history, and suitability as a companion pet could be essential for boosting the breed’s registration numbers. Join the PetGuide community. Get the latest pet news and product recommendations by subscribing to our newsletter here.

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