Dog trained to detect nuts is life-saver for allergy sufferer

Yasmine Tornbald is allergic to nuts. Her allergy is so severe that she can go into anaphylactic shock from just smelling them.

Her dog, Nano, is a life-saver.

Nano, a 4-year-old poodle, has been trained to detect nut odour traces in both food and the environment. He's the first dog to be trained by the Buckinghamshire, UK non-profit organization Medical Detection Dogs to help check for nuts.

"It's given me a bit of independence back," Tornbald, from Malvern, Worcestershire, England, told BBC News.

"Normally when I stay at a hotel I start by cleaning out the room to be sure that there is no contamination — now I have Nano to double check. I can't imagine life without him now," she added.

Watch their story at BBC News here.

Now other allergy sufferers are asking about medical detection dogs.

"The difference it can make to a client who is suffering from a condition like this is very exciting," Medical Detection Dogs' Simone Brainch said.

The charity made headlines earlier in the year for training dogs to "sniff out" cancer.