. Here, Stormy with handler Dianne Walker of  the Sensory Research Institute at Florida State University  finds an odor that might come from a patient's breath or urine         Copyright © 2003 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.   HOW ANIMALS CAN SAVE US: PART 1: DOCTOR DOG According to a recent survey, having a cat or dog makes people happier and teaches children responsibility. Now, researchers are studying ways our four-legged friends not only improve our lives but could actually save them. Meet Rusty, Maggie and Ginger -- medical detectives in training. Lawrence Myers and his team are teaching them to sniff out suspicious odors. One day, these dogs could be sniffing out odors from skin cancer. Lawrence J. Myers, DVM, Ph.D. Veterinary Researcher Auburn University Auburn, AL "Just because something is low tech doesn't mean that it is not as good as, if not better, than a number of the high-tech methods." A dog's low-tech sense of smell is actually up to 100,000-times more sensitive than a human's. Doctor Myers envisions a future where dogs will work side by side with doctors. Lawrence Myers, DVM, Ph.D. "People simply can go into a dermatologist's office, and the dog can check them over, instead of waiting for them to notice an abnormally shaped or colored mole." Jim Walker agrees dogs could be a valuable tool. He's training dogs to detect prostate cancer. Jim Walker, Ph.D. Psychobiologist Sensory Research Institute Florida State University Tallahassee, FL "Any disease where there is any reason to think there are chemical cues coming from the body, it makes sense to investigate if the dog can help the diagnosis." Here, Stormy finds an odor that might come from a patient's breath or urine. Jim Walker, Ph.D.  "The aim is to put together the dog with current conventional diagnosis and simply get much better." Siobahn and Joanie train dogs to help with a range of conditions. Siobhan Fromm Service Dog Trainer/Cofounder Amazing Tails, LLC, Inc. Oxford, PA "We've had dogs that alert to blood sugar, blood pressure, migraine headaches, heart attacks." And dogs aren't the only ones with a nose for medicine. Susi, who is diabetic, says her cat, Ichabod, knows when her blood sugar is low. Susi Johnson Has diabetes "He'll keep nudging me until I get up to go check it and sure enough, it's low." Susi lives alone. If her blood sugar falls when she's asleep or if it drops too low, too fast, and she's already disoriented, Ichabod's watchful eyes could save her life. Susi Johnson "He would deliberately come over and whap at my face or actually nip at my leg until I got out of bed." A study in the British Medical Journal adds weight to this phenomenon, and an additional doctor survey shows nearly 70 percent of dogs who witnessed their owners' low blood sugar reacted to it. Joanie Bussard Service Dog Trainer/Cofounder Amazing Tails, LLC, Inc. Oxford, PA "They constantly surprise us with what they can come up with. The anticipation and the true love and devotion that they have to taking care of their person. It's really phenomenal." And harnessing those instincts could be what it takes to save your life. No animal is guaranteed to alert to a medical condition. They can be trained, but ultimately it is up to the animal as to whether or not they will respond.