Claire Guest always loved dogs, but she didn’t realise that a dog might save her life one day. She’s a psychologist and animal behaviourist who began researching whether dogs could smell illness in people. Claire set up a charity to train dogs to detect diseases such as cancer in humans. She had a special bond with her Labrador Daisy, who started acting strangely around her one day. The dog alerted Claire to a lump in her breast, which Claire says saved her life. Daisy detected over 500 cases and won a Blue Cross medal for dogs. Now Claire is working with doctors and scientists to try and sniff out Covid-19 as well as working as the CEO for her charity Medical Detection Dogs.

Presenter: Rajan Datar

Producer: Deiniol Buxton

Photo: Dr Claire Guest

Credit: Janine Warwick