From being lively, he became withdrawn. He also kept sniffing Maureen’s breath and nudging her right breast. Max’s odd behaviour prompted Maureen to check her breasts and she discovered a small lump in the right one. But the growth did not show up on a hospital mammogram.
Still convinced that something was wrong, she persuaded surgeons to do a biopsy. And Maureen’s hunch was proved right when the results confirmed there was a lump – and it was malignant.
Maureen, who lives in Rugby, believes she would not be here today if it weren’t for her 10-year-old dog. She said: “I do believe that Max has saved my life. It was his peculiar reaction that alerted me to the fact that something was wrong. At first I thought he was just getting old, he was not so playful and his eyes were sad. He’d sniff my breath in an odd way – I even asked my husband Roger if I had halitosis.
“Max would also nudge my right breast then back away. Then one day I felt this lump. Max looked at me so sadly and I instantly knew I had cancer. On the same day as the biopsy I told my nurse that I already knew, as my dear dog had told me. I thought she’d laugh but she said she’d heard it before.”
Maureen had two operations to remove the malignant lump, as well as radiotherapy. Her prognosis is excellent. “Back home I was greeted by my old Max,” she said. “He even sniffed my wound and wagged his tail. And he doesn’t sniff my breath any more.”
There's a news video here.
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