Latex-detecting dog is woman’s weapon against dangerous allergy

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Balloons, rubber bands, dishwashing gloves and yoga mats are hardly cause for panic for most people.

But to Patsy Hayes, even the slightest physical contact with latex is enough to send her to the hospital, wheezing with swollen lips, tongue and eyelids — a possible lifethreatening scenario.

Now, the severely allergic 21-year-old has a furry, 41-pound secret weapon trained to make sure she avoids her nemesis.

Introducing Andromeda, the latex detection dog.

The black Labrador retriever is part of a growing trend in service dogs primed to protect allergy sufferers from potentially deadly encounters with everything from soy to nuts.

“I know she’s got my back,” Hayes said of the playful but obedient pooch that returned with her in midJanuary to college in upstate New York.

When Andromeda pinpoints any odor of latex, she drastically increases sniffing, brackets the source of the latex with her body, then sits and stares at the item to alert Hayes to stay away. Her owner rewards the dog’s efforts with lavish praise, a big hug and a delicious treat.

With an estimated 50 million Americans suffering from some type of allergy — including three million from latex, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Hayes is not unique.

Patsy Hayes found Allergen Detection Service Dogs, owned and operated by Ciara Gavin in Colorado Springs, after months of painstaking online research.

Still, teaching a dog to detect latex — a milky fluid produced by rubber trees that is processed into a variety of products, such as gloves and balloons — was a first for Gavin and her 7-yearold company.

Years of training dogs to detect explosives and narcotics for the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies led Gavin to branch out in 2009 and focus on teaching dogs to detect an array of compounds — including nuts, milk, wheat, eggs and soy — that create serious allergic reactions in her clients.

Some of the afflicted, she said, rarely left their homes, didn’t go to school or movies, parks or churches — or even visit friends — out of fear of an allergy attack.

“But after getting a dog,” Gavin said, “they would start going places.’’

Anaphylaxis is a sudden, life-threatening allergic reaction, often triggered by medications, food and insect stings. A recent study by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America showed that anaphylaxis occurs in at least 1 in 50 adults, though experts say it’s probably closer to 1 in 20. For many, it can be brought on just by touching trace amounts of a substance like latex, peanuts, milk or eggs.

Gavin’s company charges $12,500 for the year it takes to train an allergy-detecting dog — and with their sturdy hips, Labs like Andromeda should be able to work as service dogs for at least 10 years, she said. Gavin also charges $2,500 for the two weeks needed to train an owner, and about $2,000 for travel expenses.

Lindy Hayes agreed to foot half the bill if her daughter came up with the balance, which Patsy Hayes is doing through a GoFundMe account and by tutoring students.

GROUP GARY REYES / BAY AREA NEWS Patsy Hayes, 21, bonds with her service dog, Andromeda, during a training session at Willow Street Frank Bramhall Park in San Jose, Calif. Hayes suffers from a severe allergy to latex products which has sent her to countless trips to the emergency room...