There is an old saying in the news business that you can’t go wrong with stories about adorable children and dogs. So a report that has both is a sure fire winner. That may not always be the case but I find tonight’s story especially fascinating.
 
Riley Mers is an eight year old in Monument, Colorado who has such a severe peanut allergy that a slight whiff can actually threaten her life. Her mother Sherry was watching a television program about how bomb sniffing dogs had been trained to look for illegal fruits and vegetables at customs crossings, so she thought: Why not a peanut sniffing dog to check out rooms before Riley enters them to be sure she is safe?
 
Mom started asking around in the area about someone who might train a dog. A dog breeder gave her a Portuguese Water Dog whom Riley named Rock’O and directed her to a Bill Whitstine who trains dogs to detect explosives at the Florida Canine Academy. There have been reports of other dogs trained to sniff out peanuts but Whitstine had never done it and took it on a challenge. He donated his time in training the dog that would usually cost $15,000. He said it was surprisingly easy to train a dog for peanut detection.
 
Sherry Mers and Whitstine now have started a foundation to raise money to train other dogs for several allergic children (http://www.angelservicedogs.com/)
 
It has been rumored that Portuguese Water Dogs are among the breeds being considered for the First Puppy for the Obama kids. Indeed one of their attractions for working with allergic children is that they tend to trigger allergies less frequently than other breeds.
 
Also the dog purists among you way say that Rock’O is not really a Portuguese Water Dog. But I am assured he is. He does not have the perfect appearance required for a show dog. Nor is he groomed as such a dog traditionally would be for shows. But he is to Riley as she puts it “my very bestest friend in the world.”