Can Gluten-Sniffing Dogs Help People with Celiac Disease?

Celiac.com 07/12/2017 - Humans rely on powerful canine noses to do so many things, including sniffing for drugs, bombs and even cancer.

Now, some dogs are being trained to serve their masters by sniffing out gluten.

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Trained to help some of the 3 million Americans who have celiac disease, gluten sniffing dogs can be a tremendous boon to their owners, especially those who are highly sensitive.

One such person is Evelyn Lapadat, a 13-year-old Indiana girl with celiac disease that leaves her with joint pain, stiffness and fatigue when she eats even tiny amounts of gluten.

Now, thanks to Zeus, her Australian shepherd, Evelyn rarely has an issue with gluten. That's because Zeus has been trained to sniff out even tiny amounts of gluten in food. Zeus stays by Evelyn's side throughout the day at school, checking her hands and sniffing her food.

Zeus has learned to raise his paw if he smells gluten. If the food is safe, then Zeus turns his head.

“I haven't gotten sick in a really long time and it's like a really big relief,” Evelyn said.

Maybe one day dogs like Zeus will be much more common.

See more at NBCNews.com