A viral TikTok of a dog pressing its face against its owner has sparked speculation that it was sensing illness. This concern has caused many to ask: Is this behavior purely affectionate, or could it stem from a far more serious presence?
On June 18, Justine Krohn (@justinekrohn) posted a viral video, which amassed over 1.5 million views as of Friday. It featured her dog pressing its head into her face without any additional movement. The video’s text overlay reads, “I need someone to explain to me why my dog does this to me & only me.”
Why does her dog do this?
The video led to much speculation among TikTok users in the comments section. Many warned her that this may be related to her health.
“I would go see your doctor just to make sure everything is OK with you,” warned one commenter. “Dogs can detect diabetes, cancer, blood pressure, tumors and many other things. Hopefully your dog is just giving you love.”
“Our friends dog did this to her foot, all the time,” wrote another. “She had melanoma on her foot. Doctor told her that her dog saved her life.”
Responding to the previous comment, Krohn said this is simply a case of her dog being affectionate. “Im glad your friends okay! Skin cancer runs in my family so im very cautious and have my check-ups all the time so I know there’s nothing there! My dog just does this to get lovins.”
Shortly after posting the original video, Krohn posted a follow-up video regarding the concerned comments. The video features her dog once again pressing its face against her own. The text overlay reads, “Tik Tok told me to get my health checked because they think my dog is trying to tell me I have cancer when she does this.”
Viewers share their stories
Many users shared stories about how dogs exhibiting similar behavior led people to discover that they had cancer.
“Oncology nurse. Have had multiple patients tell me their dog started doing this and is why they went to their doctor and were eventually diagnosed. Def worth a visit it to make sure everything is OK,” said one of the commenters.
“My BFs lab was suddenly all about sniffing me and constantly nudging me. Diagnosed with stage 2 invasive lobular carcinoma 6 weeks later,” shared another user. “He went back to normal behavior after my bilateral mastectomy.”
“Dogs can smell dead tissue under the skin, please go get checked,” claimed one individual.
These comments led many to question the scientific validity behind these claims. The idea that dogs can smell diseases is not unfounded. However, it’s not quite as simple as many comments might lead one to believe.
Can dogs detect illness?
Dogs are known to have an extraordinary sense of smell. Studies have shown that this heightened sense allows them to detect changes in a person’s scent triggered by the presence of a disease. For reference, dogs have about 220 million scent receptors compared to the 5 million scent receptors in humans.
This ability has led experts to train dogs to detect diseases in humans, ranging from skin cancer to COVID-19. However, it is not as clear if untrained dogs are likely to respond in such a way. While there are many stories of untrained dogs detecting cancer and other diseases, the evidence is largely anecdotal and lacks significant data-backed research.
However, it is largely understood that behavior from dogs similar to that shown in Krohn’s video is largely affectionate.
Viviane Arzoumanian, a licensed family dog mediator, explained to Daily Paws that because of dogs’ extraordinary smell, they have adapted to communicate through their nose. Included in said communication is affection.
So while it is possible that dogs can pick up on the presence of disease, it’s most likely that they are expressing affection for their owners.
@justinekrohn What does it mean ?
♬ True – Spandau Ballet
The Mary Sue reached out to Krohn for comment.
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