The Obama family choose a Portuguese Water Dog for a pet. The Mers' family has one for a very different reason.
Hats off to Sherry- one creative mom! She noticed dogs sniffing luggage at an airport customs counter. They were searching for fruits and vegetables being brought into the country illegally. Then, light bulb moment...why not use dogs as a service animal to sniff out allergens for severely allergic children like her daughter Riley?
It turns out that this idea has been floating around for several years. In 2005, a Jacksonville FL teen hoped her peanut sniffing dog would enable her attend school. The price tag is high- $12,000-$15,000 for a dog. Several communities have begun fund raising efforts to help severely allergic children in their town afford a dog.
For more information, check out Angel Service Dogs, a website created by the Mers.
Learn more about these peanut dogs from the trainers at
Peanut Detector Dogs.
What a great idea!
As always, turn to the Food Allergy Assistant for food allergy news.
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