DOGS DO THE JOB: The Farmers’ Almanac for 2022 has a list of jobs done by dogs, and the span of their talents is pretty impressive.

Our four-legged friends use their impressive sense of smell to help detect bed bugs, which they can smell both the bugs and their eggs. Dogs trained in detecting bed bugs are said to have a 97.5% accuracy rate. This helps cut off an infestation before it has time to grow.

Beagles are the dogs chosen for this type of work, as their extremely long ears are effective in helping to trap smells and make it easier to find the live bugs.

There are almost 500,000 service dogs in the US that help with epilepsy, diabetes, PTSD and various other issues.

Electronics detection is another area where dogs excel, as they can be trained to find microchips, flash drives, cell phones, etc.. which can make the difference in a case where these items are key evidence.

Search and Rescue dogs are still a key to increasing survival rates when people are trapped. This includes avalanches where skiers and snowboarders or hikers become trapped.

One highly skilled dog performing search and rescue can be more effective than 20 searchers, according to the info shared by the Farmers’ Almanac. Dogs can search a one-hectare area 90 times faster than 20 trained humans. German shepherds, border collies, labs and Belgian Malinois are considered good breeds for the project.

Dogs can also be 95% successful at detecting illness, such as cancer. These dogs are trained to sniff out cancer cells, which have a specific odor. This can be detected from a person’s skin, breath or urine. There are more than 100 US fire departments who take part in regular cancer screenings using canines.

For more information, visit https://farmersalmanac.com.