Her Dog Wouldn’t Stop Pawing at Her Armpit: Then She Found a Lump

For years, Christine Richards from England thought her Chihuahua, Plugg, was simply trying to get her attention. He would repeatedly burrow into her armpit, paw at the area, and bark—behavior she found strange and sometimes irritating.

“Whenever he came near my armpit, he would paw at the area again and again, as if he were trying to talk to me or get my attention,” she recalled. “I never understood him the way he probably intended. It always annoyed me.”

Then one day, Christine noticed something that changed everything: a small lump had appeared in the very area Plugg had been so persistently interested in.

Suddenly remembering her dog’s unusual behavior, she decided to get it checked by a doctor.

“He Just Knew Something Was Wrong”

The examination led to devastating news. Doctors diagnosed Christine with cancer that had already spread to her lymph nodes.

“I was in complete shock. I just started crying,” she recalled.

According to Christine, she had experienced almost no other warning signs despite the cancer having already progressed.

That was when Plugg’s strange behavior began to make sense.

Christine remembered hearing that dogs may be capable of detecting certain illnesses through their highly developed sense of smell. When she mentioned Plugg’s behavior to her doctor, she was told that there have been cases in which dogs appeared to detect chemical changes in the body associated with disease.

Christine became convinced that Plugg had been trying to alert her all along.

“He just knew something was wrong,” she said.

She underwent a year of treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and medication. Throughout that period, Plugg continued sniffing and licking the same area of her body.

Then his behavior suddenly changed.

After treatment, Plugg stopped paying attention to her armpit entirely. According to Christine, he has never returned to the unusual behavior that had once been so persistent.

A year later, doctors told her the cancer was in remission, and Christine says it has remained that way in the years since.

Can Dogs Really Detect Cancer?

Scientists have been investigating for years whether dogs’ extraordinary sense of smell could allow them to detect certain diseases. Research involving specially trained dogs has found that they can sometimes distinguish samples from people with certain cancers by detecting differences in breath, urine, or other biological samples.

Researchers believe illnesses such as cancer may produce changes in volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which can alter the body’s scent in ways that humans cannot detect but a dog’s far more sensitive nose potentially can.

However, this remains an evolving area of research. A pet behaving strangely around a particular part of someone’s body cannot diagnose cancer, and dogs should never be considered a substitute for medical screening or professional evaluation.

Still, persistent changes should not simply be ignored. If you notice a new lump, swelling, or other unexplained physical change, it is important to have it evaluated by a medical professional—regardless of whether your dog noticed it first.

For Christine, however, Plugg’s strange habit took on an entirely different meaning after her diagnosis. The behavior she had once found irritating became something she believes may have helped alert her to a serious problem hiding beneath the surface.