Submitted by PADs.

Mia has been a member of the Parkinson’s Alert Dog Team of super-sniffers for more than seven years, and in that time, Mia has used her above-Standard Poodle nose to sniff out an odor associated with Parkinson’s Disease for a record-setting 458 days of attendance. Here, you see Mia doing a full on “alert and hold” as she indicates the presence of the target odor. Mia is one of only two dogs that has been a part of the detection dog team of Parkinson’s Alert Dogs since its inception in 2016. She is also one of only two dogs that has a formally trained “hold” alert. The trained alert was necessary because she would search and find her target odor, and then rather than hold at odor, she would immediately whip her head upright and make a mad dash to the exit door so she could get back in line for another turn. When it comes to detection, this is a dog that isn’t about to get out of line.

If you would like to observe Mia and her 17 “nosey” San Juan Island colleagues in action, contact sanjuanlisa@gmail.com or text 360-298-5494. For more information on PADs, or to support the PADs Program, see www.padsforparkinsons.org.

PADs, located on San Juan Island, is the first program of its kind to train dogs for the detection of an odor associated with Parkinson’s Disease.