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BETTER KNOWN FOR their drug and explosive detecting skills, new research now suggests dogs can smell stress from human sweat and breath.
According to the scientists, the skill could be useful when training service dogs and therapy dogs.
Researchers collected samples of sweat and breath from 36 people before and after they undertook a difficult maths problem.
Each of them reported their stress levels before and after the task, and researchers only used samples where the person’s blood pressure and heart rate had increased.
When presented with samples, all four dogs – Treo, Fingal, Soot and Winnie – were able to correctly identify the stress specimens.
Clara Wilson, a PhD student in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “The findings show that we, as humans, produce different smells through our sweat and breath when we are stressed and dogs can tell this apart from our smell when relaxed – even if it is someone they do not know.
“The research highlights that dogs do not need visual or audio cues to pick up on human stress.
“This is the first study of its kind and it provides evidence that dogs can smell stress from breath and sweat alone, which could be useful when training service dogs and therapy dogs.
“It also helps to shed more light on the human-dog relationship and adds to our understanding of how dogs may interpret and interact with human psychological states.”
One of the super sniffer canines that took part in the study was Treo, a two-year-old cocker spaniel.
His owner Helen Parks said: “As the owner of a dog that thrives on sniffing, we were delighted and curious to see Treo take part in the study.
“We couldn’t wait to hear the results each week when we collected him.
“He was always so excited to see the researchers at Queen’s and could find his own way to the laboratory.
“The study made us more aware of a dog’s ability to use their nose to ‘see’ the world.
“We believe this study really developed Treo’s ability to sense a change in emotion at home.
“The study reinforced for us that dogs are highly sensitive and intuitive animals and there is immense value in using what they do best – sniffing.”
In the study, the dogs were taught how to search a scent line-up and alert researchers to the correct sample.
Stress and relaxed samples were then introduced, but at this stage the researchers did not know if there was an odour difference the pooches could detect.
In every test session, each dog was given one person’s relaxed and stressed samples, taken only four minutes apart.
All of the dogs were able to correctly alert the researchers to each person’s stress sample.
The findings are published in the Plos One journal.
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Our own Government has thrown the most vulnerable people in the country to the international wolves.
@Paul J. Redmond:And Michael Noonan walks off laughing, into the sunset with his pockets stuffed with our money.
@Paul J. Redmond: why? These funds are much more likely to work with customers to create payment plans etc. Just look at the carry on of KBC in Roscommon as an example of regulated lenders You should read up on the issue.
@Dave Byrne: more likely is no guarantee and where the problem lays. Perhaps as intelligent people we should have dealt with this issue on day one as President Roosevelt did after Wall Street crash. Assisting both sides of the equation not just one as our gombeens have.
@Martin Critten: well in fairness more likely is as good as it gets when you haven’t been paying your mortgage for years
@Paul J. Redmond: Above 720 days arrears, and the vast vast majority of them have the head firmly buried in the sand. Their only plan is, if I ignore the letters and phone calls for long enough it will go away. The mentality of a three year old.
@Tony Shoulderhead: Have you met and spoken to the ‘vast vast majority of them’?
@Joe Phillips: I seen it first hand alright. They are in that bracket for a reason. Bank then packages them up and gets rid at a substantial haircut. These people can have no complaints.
@Joe Phillips: Nobody has met and spoken to these people about arrears, That’s the problem they don’t engage.
@Tony Shoulderhead: you have to be regulated to lend money in Ireland. Or… You can be an international non income tax paying unregulated lender by just buying the loans from a regulated lender… Thereby going against the rules of being a regulated lender and pretty much given free rein to do whatever the fk you like.
People think its all fine and dandy at the moment with the ‘they’re more likely to work with borrowers than a bank’, but mark my words if and when this current bubble bursts you’ll see how absolutely criminal it was allowing this to go on.
To use a meme:
Regulated lenders: “we caused the crash in 07″
Unregulated lenders: “hold my beer…”
@Aidan Mitchell: if any lender wants to operate in Ireland they have to do so under central bank regulation so what your saying is wrong
@Tony Shoulderhead: Do you work in a bank where you’ve had first hand experience with this then yeah?
@Joe Phillips: No Joe, I was with MABs for 4 and half years. Not that it’s any of your business.
@Tony Shoulderhead: Were you their ‘empathy’ guy?
@Tony Shoulderhead: I can imagine the kind of advice you were giving out. I’m just glad I never needed to go to you.
@Tony Shoulderhead: MABS? A disgusting organisation. The way they deal with people at the eviction courts would put Shylock to shame.
@Derek Baldy Head Baldrick: bahaha empathy, That’s what the long term debt dodgers need alright. You can spot the decent hardworking tryers after 30 seconds
@Joe Phillips: serial defaulters don’t deserve advice. They deserve jail.
@Tony Shoulderhead: Well thankfully you’re not in that position anymore. I really hope you’re something very different now
@Tony Shoulderhead: You refer to ‘long term debt dodgers’. Do you happen to be referring to the likes of those individuals who had hundreds of millions written off, or perhaps the banks who had tens of billions written off (including taxes), or is your ‘empathy’ reserved only for the little people?
@Tony Shoulderhead: Does this include those who legged it to the UK to declare bankruptcy only to come back to their palaces and huge salaries, or those who had millions written off for them despite being billionaires – we know who they are? Should be be herding Joe and Jane Soaps into the Joy while the big guys get to stay in their mansions?
@Dave Byrne: I’m not wrong. Yes a lender has to operate under central bank regulation. But the regulated lender sells the debt to an offshore vulture fund for example which isn’t regulated by the Central Bank. So now you have a lender effectively operating in Ireland who ISN’T doing so under central bank regulation. Therein is the bloody problem that many aren’t grasping!!
Unregulated vulture funds. Keeping the recovery going, eh Leo?
@European Bob: I think the tax payer should pay for the arrears. Don’t sell off the mortgages for people who won’t or can’t pay.
@EDun: I think the vulture funds are the ones that work with regulated lenders. I have a loan with Ulster bank (who are regulated), but the fund behind it is RBOS, who I don’t negotiate with – as long as there is a regulated middle man, then I can negotiate.
the problem here is if there are unregulated lenders (whatever that means, how are they mortgages, if they are not officially mortgages), then they should not be protected by loan recovery mechanisms (like courts etc…) in relation to mortgage recovery, and the central bank should be invalidating the credit agreement and offering transfers to regulated funds at standard mortgage terms, and banking further un regulated home loans. but I fear the article is not being honest in reporting facts anyway
@EDun: So I, as both a homeowner and a taxpayer, should pay for my own home AND contribute to keeping a roof over the heads of the “can’t pay, won’t pay” brigade??? I don’t think so.
@Cheeky Bums: He was being sarcastic
@Cheeky Bums: Well you as a homeowner and a taxpayer have paid for your home and contributed to keeping a roof over the head of the unsecured bond holders. Remember Anglo. Remeber all those wealthy bond holders who still got paid. You paid them. Out of your own pocket. So yeah. I do think so.
@Cheeky Bums: agreed. I’m already paying for the defaulters through tax and higher interest rates than EU average. If the burden can be lessened through the sale of bad loans then I have to say that’s a good thing for me.
@EDun: Yeah sell it to the highest bidder regardless of rights and regulation… That’s fair…
Lots of work for not currently in taxable employment UVF loyalists. At least they know based on support from Leo and the New Garda Commisioner that whatever they do for the queens shilling, the FFG government has their Loyalist members backs. But note of warning, those who get up early in the morning may not always vote for Leo Vradkar or
FFG contrary to what they suggest to the media :)
@Cal Mooney:
Dear Micheál,
If the shlt ever hits the fan for us blueshirts, don’t forget we kept you relevant by coming up with the confidence and supply con. We will expect you to do the same for us when the shoe is on the other foot.
Kindest regards,
Socky
@Cal Mooney: where does Queens shillings come into it? the ex-uvf guy was apparently paid by an Irish company who are tax compliant in Ireland. not that opinions on the journal are relevant, but that kind of Northern Ireland anti loyalist talk does not resonate with 85% of people in Ireland, but it does impact the chances of a border poll.
Note that as I write barely over 3,000 read this article and there were only 7 comments,inc mine. Not much interest in this topic is there? There should be a revolution. Instead people who are not impacted by vulture funds and grabbing banks don’t want to know. Compare this to the misery and stress of living under the threat of being evicted and homeless. Not every person in mortgage arrears is a messer. Most are genuine people who lost their jobs or like me, ended up being unable to work due to illness. Life becomes unbearable for some who ,due to the protracted stress, go on to commit suicide. Were it not for agencies who help, people like us would be left to deal with these vulture funds and bullying banks on their own.
@Annette Hunter: You won’t lose your house if you pay your mortgage. It doesn’t matter who the lender is.
@jo mixon: You won’t lose your money if you buy unsecured bank bonds and the economy crashes. It’s win win for the multi millionaire bond holders. Average Joe will bail you out as the bank whose bonds you own evict him onto the street. Let’s have a level playing field here, that’s all anyone is asking for.
@jo mixon: did you read that comment at all?
@European Bob: the bank guarantee was completely unfair (they should have been allowed to fail, unsecured deposits should have not been honoured while protecting personal deposits), but it did also protect every deposit or savings account by every citizen, pensioner, worker. it did have an advantage for every citizen with savings. but a revolution because there are mortgage holders in arrears with a small chance of repossession if you don’t ignore the bank? never going to happen.
@Annette Hunter: some people understand that this is a non-issue. A lot of people’s pensions are tied up in regulated vulture funds. Always two sides to the coin. Who’s side are you on? Mr Smith who does not pay his mortgage? Or Mrs Smythe saving for her retirement?
Lots of statements from government sources concerning mortgages. Mainstream media especially R.T.E. and Denis O’Briens propaganda outlets preaching about home owners in arrears. No mention of the billions of Euro paid by the taxpayer to bail out the banks. This money will never be repaid, the continued gangsterism of the banks concerning the tracker mortgage scandal, still ongoing, the hundreds of millions paid out to bondholders yesterday, with interest., The billions written of for Denis O’Brien and developers by the banks. And they tell you people in arrears are the problem. The Mafia must be in awe of them.
@Donal Desmond: Also death agencies hounding cancer patients if they don’t pay their bill within 47 days. another symptom of the FF/FG dictatorship.
This state our state bailed out unsecured speculative bonds aka triple aaa bonds that where set up to fail.we bail out millionaires and evict the victims.
@Greedylocks: well said.
@Greedylocks:
We have tried FF , FG and hybrids of FF, FG & Labour but they all seem to be tarred with the one brush; line the pockets of the rich and cruel the workers.
Why not give SF a go next time? You never know until you give them a go and, lets face it, they can’t be any worse than what we’ve had over the past 15 years.
If your answer is no then I guess you should all grin a bear it like good old Paddy masochists
@Greedylocks: They weren’t really specilative bonds though, were they? They were based on the creditworthiness of the issuer and guaranteed by the State. You think it would have been better if the whole banking sector went down in flames? What would have happened to all our savings, pensions and investments? Look at all the people who lost everything in Bernie Madoff’s scheme? You think that would have been ok to happen to us???
@Cheeky Bums: the moaner brigade don’t like facts. yes, these should have been burned (in a true open system), but they don’t get that it was mainly pension funds that were the beneficiaries of this protection. and they don’t seem to get that it’s retired workers with private pensions who would lose out, not DOB (who had zero chance of personal investment in speculative loans).
@Moorooka Mick: I’d say Mick, the people who currently vote FF/FG/Lab would be more likely to vote for Peadar’s new party than SF, if they are going to shop around. 10 years post crash, the country is totally polarised and I can’t see too many voters who now vote SF crossing over to FF/FG/Lab and vice versa. It’s a new style of civil war politics rather than a theoretical left vs right divide, IMO of course.
No person who claims to be Irish can argue anything other than this is a National Disgrace for Ireland.
Unless of course your a banker or a parasite that hasn’t made it to being a banker.
Its criminal theft.
@Brendan McLaughlin: You don’t need to Irish to see that the behaviour of all sides involved in the last 10 days have been disgraceful. The debtor who has been shown to be a serious tax defaulter and a multiple loan defaulter ultimately caused all this and his refusal to pay up rather than an incapacity to pay up put the home of his siblings at risk.
@Michael Carolan: I agree Michael, everybody has been shown up here. The fact that the debtor is getting sympathy for repeatedly defaulting on tax payments and loans is v strange though. They are the main person at fault.
@Anto Curran: That’s the smear we’re to focus on. The criminality of the banks their agents, their thugs, and the lack of any action by the Gardai is to be ignored.
@Dave Doyle: Is it a smear if it’s true? I hate that they paid ex-UDR men to behave like that on our soil but the guy is a serial defaulter, he’s no innocent.
@Lisa Saputo: they (and others that are benefiting from hall’s organisation’s goodwill from genuine bad cases) try to think we don’t see all sides – I completely disagree with repossession agencies (they should be banned from trading, bank agreements, and tax overdue should be recovered directly from social welfare payments instead), i am especially annoyed about guards who do not know the law by allowing a mob repossession without full documentation. and I am annoyed that an ex public servant has so much arrogance that they think they are beyond the law of the land, which protects that majority of us.
@Gulliver Foyle: It’s good listening to you talk those fine, reasonable sounding words. Yet you support the government at every hands turn.
The banks use these thugs now because if the court order for eviction is questioned, they have the thugs on hand to beat the objectors down. In the case of faulty court orders they need to take possession of the house/ property.
To many sheriffs have been sent away by people who know a genuine court order when they see them. The Gardai sent to police these evictions should also be capable of upholding the law in regards to these eviction orders and any violence from any party. But they don’t and never have. The only function is to protect those carrying out the eviction.
These eviction courts, the Circuit court, where the majority of eviction orders are granted, and not as Leo spins it as being in the High Court, are presided over by County Registrars, who have very limited legal training. All, except for two counties, are also the County sheriffs. They work on commission, they have a vested interest in the outcome. These eviction courts are a place of criminality with what goes on in them. No one is allowed question the proceedings. The only ones entitled to speak are the barristers employed by the banks.
The vulture funds are here because people who will not pay their mortgage on time to the traditional banks cannot be removed from their property in a timely manner. If the Irish banks try, they are met with crap about how disgraceful this bank, still owned by the state is turfing someone out on the street. The vulture funds operate as a business and do not care about people. If the traditional banks could remove the won’t pay people (ignoring the can’t pay people) we wouldn’t need the vulture funds to do the necessary dirty work.
@D walsh: Vulture funds are needed to sustain a rotten and corrupt banking system. It the reason Noonan invited them in. Gave them Charity status so they can keep their profits tax free. Profit that is exported, and of no benefit to the country. The banks got the same deal on the mortgages they sell off.
Free profit for banks and Vulture funds is fact. Free houses is fiction.
@D walsh: Can you please explain how the billions of taxpayers money used to bail out the banks Which will not be repaid even though the bank pay tax on their profits. The gangsterism of the banks continued with the tracker mortgage scandal still ongoing. Can’t remember Vereadka calling for the eviction of banks or bankers over non payment
Just pay your mortgage, then you don’t go into arrears
@Seamus Balfe: ? You do realise after the wall street crash Roosevelt assisted both banks and mortgage holders ( the latter who couldn’t sell on to escape the negative equity. Again for those who lost their income through no fault or were taxed to secure the economy which again weakened their ability to pay were laid to waste by this government and short sighted commentators. Its an issue that if handled correctly should never have been an issue for anyone. This auld tripe u peddle illustrates u know little about how the world works.
@Seamus Balfe: What if you lose your job?? what if your house decreases in value below how much you owe??? Because that’s also a non performing loan in their books.
In ireland we have choices with housing. 1 buy our homes 2 rent our homes 3 apply for social housing.
When I make a decision to do option 1 I agree to payback the mortgage that put the roof over my head. If No I cannot afford to do that then surely I should give something I don’t own back and do option 2 or 3.
The crazies on the left in this country want everything for nothing.
@john s: go back to 1. You agreed with your bank to pay back the mortgage. You didn’t agree with some US vulture fund that doesn’t pay income tax in ireland to pay back your mortgage to them with worse terms. Can’t you see that? It’s not about going into arrears. It’s about banks selling your mortgage to the highest bidder to companies who are not held to (any) the same standards for which you got your mortgage for in the first place.
@Aidan Mitchell: well hold on. You agreed to the bank’s terms and conditions that state they are the owner of the mortgage and has the prerogative to sell.
@Aidan Mitchell: also you agreed to pay back the mortgage, if you don’t pay it back that agreement is off the table. The banks aren’t selling well performing mortgages.
And I should hope they sell them to the highest bidder, they are a business…
@dowthebow: so if for arguments sake you can’t pay your mortgage and the old sicilian mafia (obviously for arguments sake) are the highest bidder are you happy now to be in their debt??
You have no idea whom the vulture funds are owned by so the scanario is very real.
@Hellenize Dublin: are you going to address anything I said? I asked a few simple questions. Yes or no.
“Ah shur aren’t we a great little country though “ aren’t we good little boys and girls .
No fear of the so called ‘landleague’. or the farmer TD’s in the dail. turning up to support this sort of evictions.
Aaaaand cue the “I work HARD and pay MY morgtage on time” brigade….
@Sarah: by the sounds of it you obviously don’t.
Ball locks.
Central Bank: “mortgages owned by unregulated loan owners (ULO) are “absolutely” still subject to the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears.” – what’s the issue then?
@clemguis: The code of conduct is voluntary!
The bank doe’s not loan you the money.
You create the money with your signature
If I had a load of money I would help people out.
Usually a very high chance of a write down with these funds, assuming you can get the cash from somewhere. They buy outstanding balance and arrears at a discount in a pool of loans at an average price. If you over (enough) more than they bought it for but less than you owed the old gang, there’s a potential exit.
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