Callum Jones
A man as fit as a fiddle has been diagnosed with cancer after being left perplexed by his dog's behavior around him.
The saying that a dog is a man's best friend has never been truer, after an unidentified man's cancer diagnosis was seemingly picked up first by his pup.
While many of us would not head to the doctors until symptoms have surfaced, the dog became 'preoccupied' with a certain part of the man's body and once symptoms surfaced, the man knew he needed to get it checked out.
The Redditor penned his story on a thread that asked: "Redditors who have cancer, what were you feeling/experiencing that made you go see a doctor causing you to eventually find out you had cancer?"
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The man explained: "My small dog was preoccupied with the left side of my chest and began over a period of weeks pawing, sniffing and eventually jumping on the one side.
"I had no feeling of discomfort or pain, but eventually discovered a lump and my physician confirmed it as stage 1 cancer.
"My dog knew something had changed by smelling the site and I would have never bothered to check otherwise (an otherwise healthy man with no family history of cancer). Man's best friend."
The remarkable story has gone viral after being shared on Reddit, with one person speculating as to how the dog knew something wasn't quite right.
One Redditor took to the comments on the thread and penned: "Fun fact, this is actually a thing! I've seen more than one story about dogs specifically being able to hone on this.
"It's totally believable too, since they have trained dogs to detect low blood sugar or seizure disorders. Glad you had a super sniffer there."
So, what is the science behind it?
As per Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, dogs are capable of detecting traces of odors created by different diseases, including that of cancer.
Some cancers are seemingly easier to pick up by dogs, with experts suggesting pups are more likely to pick up skin cancer.
Ashley Stenzel, PhD, said, as per the outlet: "The ability of dogs to detect melanoma, a potentially fatal skin cancer, has been formally studied and confirmed.
"Given that melanoma is a cancer presenting with lesions on the skin, it would be logical for dogs to be able to detect a lesion."
According to the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Lauren Gauthier advised: "Pay close attention if your dog starts to intensely sniff and react to a certain part of your body.
"Your dog might know something that you don’t, so don’t brush their unusual behavior aside. I truly believe that Victoria saved my life.”