You can find Lagotto general information on the web. That is not why I wanted to write about this dog. Although, if you have found the general description about Lagotto you must have noticed the comments about the dog’s traits in finding truffles deep in the ground. This dog has an unbelievable nose and retrieving natural skills.

Bruno, my Lagotto puppy is only three months old and already showing his sniffing skills. 10 days ago he started to nibble on my foot in a very particular spot and came back to it over and over again. I thought he is just playing a puppy game but, two days later I have developed an eczema in this exact spot. Two days ago he did the same thing on my other leg’s toe and guess what, this morning another eczema showed up right there. I was stun.

Can my Lagotto sense a change in scent of ill cells?

I will be following up on the development of these special traits in my pup and if he really shows the ability to alert for upcoming illness I will go with him for the next step, training him to alert and identify cancer cells.

Researches has been using dogs to identify cancerous cells for quite some time now in several clinics in Israel, UK and the US and all clinics state that certain breeds of dogs can tell between healthy and sick tissues. Isn’t this great?

An interesting article about this research has been published In 2006 in the Science Daily on line magazine follow this link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060106002944.htm

Another cool trait of these dogs is the ability to dive and retrieve objects in the water and I am definitely going to give my pup the opportunity to show me how. One thing for sure, he loves the water and jumped right in as soon as placed a small pool in my back yard.

Did you know? The Lagotto has a web in between his fingers to help him swim just like a duck. Yes, lagotto is a some sort of water dog and it is a rare one slowly picking up popularity here in the US. It is not yet recognized by the AKC but I assume it will be soon.

Your trainer, Gil.

Posted In Interesting breeds