‘My chihuahua knew I had cancer before doctors – he saved me’

His actions pushed her to get help long before any other warning sign appeared

Kristine Richards thought her chihuahua was just being a pain – until she realised the little dog might be trying to tell her something important. The 61-year-old from Wellington, in Somerset, says eight-year-old Flag developed a strange habit of repeatedly pawing at the underside of her arm.

At first, she brushed it off as nuisance behaviour, but he didn’t stop. Soon after, she noticed a small lump, which set off alarm bells and prompted her to get it looked at by a doctor.

In 2018, Kristine decided to get checked after connecting Flag’s fixation with what she’d heard about dogs picking up on illness. Tests later confirmed she had hormone-sensitive lobular breast cancer, and she believes the timing was crucial because she’d felt completely normal.

She said: “My initial thought was that it was nothing, but then I started to wonder if there was a connection. I went to get it looked at and it was cancer. You can’t underestimate the shock. I couldn’t take it in. I just started crying.”

Kristine went for a full day of checks, including a mammogram and ultrasound, and was then told the cancer was aggressive and had spread to her lymph nodes. The diagnosis launched her into intense treatment that included surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and drug therapy.

Kristine says it wasn’t straightforward as doctors were forced to stop chemotherapy early because it began affecting her feet and legs, and there were fears she could lose her ability to walk. Even so, about a year after the nightmare began, she was told she was in remission and the cancer hasn’t returned since.

She added: “It was a very difficult time of my life. In times like those, you find out who your true friends are, and ultimately, I did, and the answer was my dog.

“I am now in remission, I cried with relief when they told me. It was like getting to the end of a very long journey where you don’t quite know where you are going.”

Now, Flag is a trained assistance dog who’s treated like a furry hero – with plenty of hugs and his favourite lamb treats. Kristine even says he’s saved her twice, claiming he later stopped her from being pushed into the path of a moving car.

The Chihuahua has become something of a local star, even being made honorary mayor of St Marychurch in Torquay. Kristine says he’s become known as a ‘community champion’ as the pair support charity causes and host coffee mornings.

Kristine added: “If he hadn’t alerted me, it would have taken much longer for me to go about it. He saved my life. I owe my dog everything.”

The pair are currently backing Breast Cancer Now’s Wear It Pink campaign, encouraging people to get involved to raise money and awareness. Kristine said: “The more people know about him, the more money we can raise for charity and the more awareness we can get.”