For nearly a decade, the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) canine scent detection team – Canines 4 Care – has been sniffing out C. difficile in health-care settings in B.C. and across the country, reducing infection rates and improving patient care. Though VGH is their homebase, they travel to many hospitals within VCH and throughout Canada.

The team is travelling to Penticton June 1, Kelowna and Grand Forks June 2, Cranbrook June 3, Trail and Nelson June 4 and Kamloops June 5.

“The dogs help us identify bacteria in hospital units rapidly and efficiently, so we know the areas that need to be cleaned and disinfected,” says Lale Aksu, head of the Canines 4 Care program and canine scent detection specialist. “Staff and patients are always happy to see us, and our findings help highlight trends and problem areas.”

Thanks to the generous donors of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, Canines 4 Care received $80,000 in funding to purchase a van to transport the dogs safely.

“With our new van, we’re able to expand our services into more Vancouver Health communities,” says Aksu.

"The Canines 4 Care team are a grand-slam – they support safe patient care, they are an innovative education strategy, they remind staff of the importance of cleaning and disinfecting, and they are beautiful dogs and dedicated trainers," says Interior Health Director of Infection Prevention and Control Kathryn Bush. "We are so lucky to have them visit and I want to thank the leaders who participated for their willingness to support the visit." 

The program has six working dogs; three English Springer Spaniels, two English Cocker Spaniels and one Labrador Retriever.

“Our dogs are specially selected to do this work. We look at genetics, motivation and overall temperament before bringing puppies home to be raised for the program,” says Aksu. “Our current dogs come from proven working lines across the world.”

If you see the teams around, be sure to say hi and ask for one of the dog’s trading cards.