Submitted by the Parkinson’s Alert Dog Team.

Russell has been a member of the Parkinson’s Alert Dog Team of super-sniffers for more than six years, and in that time, Russell has sniffed out an odor associated with Parkinson’s Disease for a record-setting 440 days of attendance. Here, you see Russell giving a no-nonsense alert as he indicates the presence of the target odor. At PADs, we refer to Russell as “The Professor,” due to his slightly scruffy, yet seriously studious, approach to sniffing. While observing Russell at work, it’s not much of a stretch to picture Russell with a worn tweed jacket, complete with leather patches on the elbows. Whether scruffy or scrappy, Professor Russell takes sniffing to the highest degree, and so he is now Professor Russell, Ph.D., canine detection.

If you would like to observe Russell and his 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.