Dogs with Jobs: 3 Very Cool Dogs and Their Amazing Jobs

Some dogs are man’s best friend and content to lounge around the house, while some dogs are out there working just as hard as their owner, helping to save people, tend to animals, and do other tasks that are suitable for a canine. Here are three dogs with jobs you wont believe.

Blakely, the wild animal nurse dog

Over at the Cincinnati Zoo, they welcome new zoo babies each year, and they have one very special nursemaid to help with the task. That job falls on Blakely, an Australian Shepherd who is currently tending to a a pack of 5 baby cheetahs, whose mother died after childbirth. Blakley was adopted from an animal shelter several years ago, and is the animal caretaker at the zoo. Blakely received special training then went to work snuggling and playing with Savanna, an orphaned baby cheetah. The cheetah cubs climb on Blakely and develop muscle strength and motor skills, while still receiving the animal companionship they need. Savanna grew up happy and healthy, and Blakely moved on to other species, caring for a wallaby, a warthog, a skunk, a baby ocelot, and even a bat-eared fox. He teaches them very valuable skills like how to hunt, how to play at different levels and how to eat from a bowl. So far the Blakely as nurse program has been very successful, and when he’s not being a nurse, he gets plenty of attention from both the staff and the children who see him on the grounds of the zoo. Don’t worry about the dog getting rough either, as all of his interactions with the baby animals are supervised by zoo staff.

The Navy SEAL Dogs

The highly-trained Navy SEALS have a fearsome canine counterpart who undergoes just as much training. Cairo is a Malinois dog who’s trained with the SEALS for extraordinary missions. Cairo and other trained dogs are able to sniff out bombs, individuals hiding out, and hostile individuals. They can also track down and catch out someone trying to escape when a human is unable to, but what’s the coolest thing these highly-trained dogs can do? Skydive! SEALS dogs are trained for parachuting, and will jump solo or with a handler depending on the circumstances. They wear armor and oxygen masks just like humans, and can even get outfitted with night-vision goggles dog-sized, of course!

Lucy, the Cancer-Detecting Dog

Lucy is a dog with one important job: she detects cancer, specifically bladder, kidney and prostate cancer. She works with a British organization known as Medical Detection Dogs. Medical Detection Dogs is using dogs to sniff out all types of cancer, and so far, results have shown that the dogs can detect it even faster than some tests in a laboratory! In 2015, the organization began a study approved by the UK’s National Health Service to test dogs’ ability to detect cancer. The study has eight dogs sniffing 3,000 urine samples to determine if they can pinpoint cancer and if so, what kinds. Dogs’ noses are structured with high sensitivity, and they can detect detect an odour diluted 1 – 2 parts per trillion. The dogs are currently undergoing a breast cancer detection study. Lucy and her friends are doing a big service to humanity, especially as cancer deaths affects a high number of population in the UK, and she’s a modern day medical hero.

Thanks to their intelligence, senses, and speed, dogs can be trained to do almost anything. From therapy dogs to bomb-sniffing dogs, it’s easy to see how valuable dogs are in our world.