Our world-leading research programme harnesses the power of a dog's nose to help revolutionise early diagnosis and improve patient outcomes. 

Bio Detection Dog

As our charity comes of age, we look forward to moving from proof of the concept that dogs can detect disease, to application in real-world settings, making our research a reality.

Prostate Cancer Detection Dog

Prostate Cancer

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COVID-19

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Malaria Detection Dog

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Click to Sponsor Dover

Sponsor Dover

Dover is a sleek yellow Labrador and loves cuddles and was named in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.

He loves to explore new and interesting objects.

Click to Sponsor Mary

Sponsor Mary

Mary is sleek yellow Labrador and quite an independent young lady.

She is a water baby and loves to splash in her water bowl before tipping it over.

Buddy

Sponsor Buddy

Buddy is a cute and clever yellow labrador, who is just as sweet as he looks.

He has impressed everyone with how quickly he can learn

Click to Sponsor Dover

Sponsor Dover

Dover is a sleek yellow Labrador and loves cuddles and was named in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.

He loves to explore new and interesting objects.

Click to Sponsor Mary

Sponsor Mary

Mary is sleek yellow Labrador and quite an independent young lady.

She is a water baby and loves to splash in her water bowl before tipping it over.

ponsor Dover

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Assistance Dog Training Manager

JOB TITLE: Assistance Dog Training Manager 

LOCATION: Great Horwood, Buckinghamshire

SALARY:  £33,000 - £37,000 based on experience

JOB TYPE:  Full-time permanent, with occasional evenings and weekends required

REPORTS TO:  Head of Canine Supply, Training and Welfare

TO APPLY – Please send your current CV with covering letter (no longer than one A4 sheet) stating why you would like the role to [email protected]

The Job

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Conquer personal goals while helping to provide life-saving support dogs.

Whether you are looking for a challenge to push yourself, raise money in memory of a loved one or doing something you love for a good cause; we are here to cheer you on every step of the way!

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23 April 2026 – Kulgod, A., & Guest, C., et al, Canine Olfaction Combined With Bayesian Modeling for Multicancer Detection From Breath Samples: A Phase II Study in India. In Journal of Clinical Oncology. 00,1-10.

14 July 2025 – Rooney, N., Trivedi, D, P., & Guest, C. Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease. In Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. 15, 6. 

9 April 2025 - Bistre Dabbah, S., Mendl, M. T., Guest, C. & Rooney, N. J., An exploratory study of associations between judgement bias, demographic and behavioural characteristics, and detection task performance in medical detection dogs  PLOS ONE 20(4).

19 December 2024 - Pesterfield, C., Guest, C & Brainch, S., Medical Detection Dogs in the Management of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome  European Journal of Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology. 2024: 10, 1, p.3-5

6 December 2024 - Desmas-Bazelle, I., Rooney, N. J., Morant, S., Harris, R., Volckaert, V., Goodfellow, M., Aziz, S. & Guest, C.,  Trained dogs can detect canine urothelial carcinoma of the bladder Veterinary Oncology. 1, 10p., 12.  

1 November 2024 - Bistre Dabbah, S., Mendl, M. T., Guest, C., & Rooney, N. J.,  Survey on the importance of different traits for medical detection dogs Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research. 76, p. 40-52 13 p.

1 September 2024 - Parr-Cortes, Z., Rooney, N. J., Wheatstone, M., Stock, T., Pesterfield, C., Guest, C. & Muller, C., 1 Sep 2024 Evaluating and contextualizing volatile organic compounds in dog training breath samples from a patient with type 1 diabetes Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research. 75, p. 62-75 14 p.  

22 July 2024 - Parr-Cortes, Z., Muller, C. T., Talas, L., Mendl, M. T., Guest, C., & Rooney, N. J.,, The odour of an unfamiliar stressed or relaxed person affects dogs’ responses to a cognitive bias test Scientific Reports. 14, 1, p. 1-17 17 p., 15843. 

8 December 2022 - Guest, C., et al,  Expert considerations and consensus for using dogs to detect human SARS-CoV-2-infections Frontiers in Medicine. 9.   

24 March 2022 - Guest, C,. et al.  Using trained dogs and organic semi-conducting sensors to identify asymptomatic and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections: an observational study Journal of Travel Medicine. 29, 3.

17 February 2021 - Guest, C. M., Harris, R., et al. , Feasibility of integrating canine olfaction with chemical and microbial profiling of urine to detect lethal prostate cancer PLoS One.16, 2. 

12 August 2020 - Jones, R. T., Guest, C., et al. , Could bio-detection dogs be used to limit the spread of COVID-19 by travellers? Journal of Travel Medicine. 27, 8.  

8 July 2020 - Guest, C., Harris, R., Anjum, I., Concha, A. & Rooney, N. J., , A lesson in standardisation – subtle aspects of the processing of samples can greatly affect dogs’ learning Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7.

27 February 2020 - Guest, C., Otto, C. M., , Editorial: Canine Olfactory Detection Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7.  

6 February 2020 - Wilson, C. H., Kane, S., Morant, S. V., Guest, C. M. & Rooney, N. J.,  Diabetes alert dogs: Objective behaviours shown during periods of owner glucose fluctuation and stability Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 223, 10p., 104915.

7 November 2019 - Davies, J. C., Alton, E., Simbo, A., Murphy, R., Seth, I., Williams, K., Somerville, M., Jolly, L., Morant, S.,  Guest, C.,  Training dogs to differentiate Pseudomonas aeruginosa from other cystic fibrosis bacterial pathogens: not to be sniffed at? European Respiratory Journal. 54, 5.  

1 June 2019 - Guest, C., et al,  Trained dogs identify people with malaria parasites by their odour The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 19,6, p - 578-580.   

27 March 2019 - Wilson, S., Morant, S., Kane, S., Pesterfield, C., Guest, C., & Rooney, N. J.,  An Owner-Independent Investigation of Diabetes Alert Dog Performance Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 6, Mar, 11p., 91. 

22 January 2019 - Concha, A., Guest, C. M., Harris, R., Pike, T. W., Feugier, A., Zulch, H., Mills, D, S., ,  Canine Olfactory Thresholds to Amyl Acetate in a Biomedical Detection Scenario Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 5.

15 January 2019 - Rooney, N., Guest, C. Swanson, L. & Morant, S., , How effective are trained dogs at alerting their owners to changes in blood glycaemic levels?: Variations in performance of glycaemia alert dogs PLoS ONE. 14,1,16 p., e0210092.

8 January 2019 - Kasstan, B., Hampshire, K., Guest, C., Logan, J.G., Pinder, M., Williams, K., D’Alessandro, U. and Lindsay, S.W., , Sniff and tell: the feasibility of using Bio-Detection Dogs as a mobile diagnostic intervention for asymptomatic malaria in sub-Saharan Africa  Journal of biosocial science, pp.1-8.

11 September 2014 - Concha, A., Mills, D, S., Feugier, A., Zulch, H., Guest, C. M., Harris, R., Pike, T. W., , Using Sniffing Behavior to Differentiate True Negative from False Negative Responses in Trained Scent-Detection Dogs Chemical Senses. 39, 9, p.749-754.

7 August 2013 - Rooney, N. J., Morant, S. & Guest, C.,  Investigation into the Value of Trained Glycaemia Alert Dogs to Clients with Type I Diabetes PLoS ONE 10.1371/journal.pone.0069921

1 May 2010 - Willis, C. M., Britton, L., Guest, C. M., Harris, R. & Wallace, J., , Volatile organic compounds as biomarkers of bladder cancer: Sensitivity and specificity using trained sniffer dogs Cancer Biomarkers 8, 3, p. 145-153. 

23 September 2004 - Willis, C. M., Church, S. M., Guest, C. M., et al. , Olfactory detection of human bladder cancer by dogs: proof of principle study The British Medical Journal 329:712.

15 September 2001 - Church, J. & Williams, H., , Another sniffer dog for the clinic? The Lancet 358, 9285. 

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Assistance Dog Trainer (Puppy & Advanced)

JOB TITLE: Assistance Dog Trainer (Puppy & Advanced)

LOCATION: Based out of our Training Centre in Great Horwood, near Milton Keynes with responsibility for puppies placed with socialisers in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Northamptonshire (with possible travel outside these areas from time to time)

SALARY BAND: £23,800 to £27,000 

JOB TYPE: Full-time permanent, with occasional evenings and weekends required 

REPORTS TO: Assistance Dog Training Manager

TO APPLY – Please send your current CV with covering letter (no longer than one A4 sheet) stating why you would like the role to [email protected]

The Job

Kulgod, S., Patil, P. R., Kallappa, S., Rakesh, R., Kulkarni, K., Somashekhar, S. P., Majumdar, S. D. M., Singh, A., Guest, C., Harris, R., Aviram, I., Shanbhag, S., Parashar, A., Ramaswamy, S. S., Bitan, I and Kulgod, A., 23 Apr 2026, In: Journal of Clinical Oncology. 00,1-10.  

Rooney, N., Trivedi, D. P., Sinclair, E., Walton-Doyle, C., Silverdale, M., Barran, P., Kunath, T., Morant, S., Somerville, M., Smith, J., Jones-Diette, J., Corish, J., Milne, J., & Guest, C., 14 Jul 2025, In: Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. 15, 6, p. 1111-1115 5 p. 


Bistre Dabbah, S., Mendl, M. T., Guest, C. & Rooney, N. J., 9 Apr 2025, In PLOS ONE. 20, 4. 25 p. 


Desmas-Bazelle, I., Rooney, N. J., Morant, S., Harris, R., Volckaert, V., Goodfellow, M., Aziz, S. & Guest, C., 6 Dec 2024, In: Veterinary Oncology. 1, 10p., 12.  


Bistre Dabbah, S., Mendl, M. T., Guest, C., & Rooney, N. J., 1 Nov 2024, In: Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research. 76, p. 40-52 13 p.  


Parr-Cortes, Z., Rooney, N. J., Wheatstone, M., Stock, T., Pesterfield, C., Guest, C. & Muller, C., 1 Sep 2024, In: Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research. 75, p. 62-75 14 p.  


Parr-Cortes, Z., Muller, C. T., Talas, L., Mendl, M. T., Guest, C., & Rooney, N. J., 22 Jul 2024, In: Scientific Reports. 14, 1, p. 1-17 17 p., 15843.  


Meller, S., Al Khatri, M. S. A., Alhammadi, H. K., Álvarez, G., Alvergnat, G., Alves L,C., Callewaert, C., Caraguel, C. G..B., Carancci, P., Chaber A. L., Charalambous, M., Desquilbet, L., Ebbers, H., Ebbers, J., Grandjean, D., Guest, C., Guyot, H., Hielm-Björkman, A., Hopkins, A., Kreienbrock, L., Logan J, G., Lorenzo, H., Maia R. C. C., Mancilla-Tapia, J. M., Mardones, F. O., Mutesa, L., Nsanzimana, S., Otto, C. M., Salgado-Caxito, M., de los Santos, F., da Silva, J. E. S., Schalke, E., Schoneberg, C., Soares, A. F., Twele, F., Vidal-Martínez, V. M., Zapata ,A., Zimin-Veselkoff, N., & Volk, H. A., 8 Dec 2022, In: Frontiers in Medicine. 9.   


Guest, C,. Dewhirst, S. Y., Lindsay, S. W., Allen, D. J, Aziz, S., Baerenbold, O., Bradley, J., Chabildas, U., Chen-Hussey, V., Clifford, S., Cottis, L., Dennehy, J., Foley, E., Gezan, S. A., Gibson, T., Greaves, C. K., Kleinschmidt, I., Lambert, S., Last, A., Morant, S., Parker, J. E. A., Pickett, J., Quilty, B. J., Rooney, A., Shah, M., Somerville, M., Squires, C., Walker, M., Logan, J. G., 24 March 2022. In : Journal of Travel Medicine. 29, 3.  


Withington, L., Pardo De Vera, D. D., Guest, C., Mancini, C. & Piwek, P., 1 Dec 2021, In: Expert Systems with Applications. 184.  


Guest, C. M., Harris, R., Sfanos, K. S., Shrestha, E., Partin, A. W., Trock, B., Mangold, L., Bader, R., Kozak, A., Mclean, S., Simons, J., Soule, H., Johnson, T., Lee, W. Y., Gao, Q., Aziz, S., Stathatou, P. M., Thaler, S., Foster, S., & Marshin, A., 17 Feb 2021, In: PLOS ONE.16, 2.


Could bio-detection dogs be used to limit the spread of COVID-19 by travellers?  

Jones, R. T., Guest, C., Lindsay, S. W., Kleinschmidt, I., Bradley, J., Dewhirst, S., Last, A., & Logan, J. G., 12 Aug 2020, In: Journal of Travel Medicine. 27, 8.  


Guest, C., Harris, R., Anjum, I., Concha, A. & Rooney, N. J., 8 Jul 2020, In: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7.  


Wilson, C. H., Kane, S., Morant, S. V., Guest, C. M. & Rooney, N. J., 6 Feb 2020, In: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 223, 10p., 104915.


Guest, C., Otto, C. M., 27 Feb 2020, In: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7.  


Davies, J. C., Alton, E., Simbo, A., Murphy, R., Seth, I., Williams, K., Somerville, M., Jolly, L., Morant, S.,  Guest, C., 7 Nov 2019, In: European Respiratory Journal. 54, 5.  


Guest, C., Pinder, M., Doggett, M., Squires, C., Affara, M., Kandeh, B., Dewhirst, S., Morant, S. V., D’Allesandro, U., Logan, J. G., & Lindsay, S. W., 1 June 2019, In: The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 19,6, p - 578-580.   


Wilson, S., Morant, S., Kane, S., Pesterfield, C., Guest, C., & Rooney, N. J., 27 March 2019, In: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 11p., 91.  


Concha, A., Guest, C. M., Harris, R., Pike, T. W., Feugier, A., Zulch, H., Mills, D, S., 22 Jan 2019, In: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 5.  


How effective are trained dogs at alerting their owners to changes in blood glycaemic levels? Variations in performance of glycaemia alert dogs 

Rooney, N., Guest, C. Swanson, L. & Morant, S., 15 Jan 2019, In: PLOS ONE. 14,1,16 p., e0210092. 


Concha, A., Mills, D, S., Feugier, A., Zulch, H., Guest, C. M., Harris, R., Pike, T. W., 11 Sep 2014, In; Chemical Senses. 39, 9, p.749-754.


Investigation into the Value of Trained Glycaemia Alert Dogs to Clients with Type 1 Diabetes 

Rooney, N. J., Morant, S. & Guest, C., 7 Aug 2013, In: PLOS ONE. 10.1371. 


Willis, C. M., Britton, L., Guest, C. M., Harris, R. & Wallace, J., 1 May 2010, In: Cancer Biomarkers 8, 3, p. 145-153.  


Willis, C. M., Church, S. M., Guest, C. M., Cook, A. W., McCarthy, N., Bransbury, A. J., Church, M. R. T., & Church, J. C. T., 23 Sep 2004, In: The British Medical Journal 329:712. 


Church, J. & Williams, H., 15 Sep 2001, In: The Lancet 358, 9285.  




Presentation / Conference

Johnston-Wilder, O., Mancini, C., Aengenheister, B., Mills, J., Harris, R., and Guest, C., 16 November 2015, (Accepted/In Press) ACE ’15: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology. 63:1-4p.  


Robinson, C., Mancini, C., van der Linden, J., Guest, C., and Swanson, L., 1 July 2015, (Accepted/In Press) PETRA ’15: Proceedings of the 8th ACM International Conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments. 92:1-2p.  


Mancini, C., Harris, R., Aengenheister, B., and Guest, C., 18 April 2015, (Accepted/In Press) CHI ’15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2673-2682p.  


Robinson, C, L., Mancini, C., van der Linden, J., Guest, C., and Harris, R., 26 April 2014, (Accepted/In Press) CHI ’14: Proceedings of the SIGCHI  Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 3757-3766p.  


Robinson, C, L., Mancini, C., van der Linden, J., Guest, C., and Harris, R., 4 April 2014, (Accepted/In Press) ISAWEL ’14: Intelligent Systems for Animal Welfare. 

Active Projects

Bowel Cancer Detection Dog

Bowel Cancer

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Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

UTI

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Parkinson

Parkinson’s Disease

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Pseudomonas

Pseudomonas

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Interactive Stands

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Our Bio Equipment

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Past Projects

Prostate Cancer Detection Dog

Prostate Cancer

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COVID-19

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Malaria Detection Dog

Malaria

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