Allergy to perfume

Sniffer dog “Gustav” warns Susanne of mortal danger

Susanne (57) suffers from an extreme allergy.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Superdog "Gustav" is her greatest hope: 57-year-old Susanne suffers from an autoimmune disease. She has an extreme allergic reaction to perfumes and is in danger of suffocating. The specially trained four-legged friend can help her, as "Gustav" is the first dog in Austria to be able to sniff out problematic perfume ingredients.

Susanne worked as a nurse for 38 years, caring for patients in the neurology ward, the accident department and the old people's home who needed to be mobilized. Although not yet of retirement age herself, the 57-year-old is now a physical wreck as a result of her strenuous work.

"Gustav" will be Austria's first dog to sniff out and report problematic perfume ingredients.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

"Being a nurse was my dream job"
"Being a nurse was my dream job. I was always there for people, I enjoyed working a lot, but unfortunately I lost my health in the process," emphasizes the Linz native, who is bravely battling a whole series of serious impairments. "For example, I have a sinus vein thrombosis in my head (blockage of the outflow in the brain), which causes me a lot of pain," says the 57-year-old. She also suffers from rheumatism, has arthrosis in almost all her joints and fibromyalgia (chronic pain disorder with stiffness in muscles).

Her nose is currently still being trained.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Muscle and autoimmune disease
She has also been plagued several times by herniated discs in her spine and a blood sponge in her thoracic vertebrae. "I also suffer from the muscle disease myastenia, which causes a disturbance in the conduction of impulses between nerve and muscle. As a result, things suddenly fall out of my hand or my eyes close," she says.

But she also suffers from the autoimmune disease rosacea time and again: "I get a red face that burns and itches terribly. She is also incontinent as a result of an accident caused by someone else. She also suffered a traumatic brain injury, which had a negative impact on her eyesight.

"Have an allergic reaction"
The most problematic thing for her at the moment, however, seems to be her allergic asthma. "Unfortunately, there is a long list of substances that I am extremely allergic to. I then have severe attacks of suffocation, which can be fatal within just ten minutes," explains the former nurse. She has already had 17 such incidents. "Once I even had to be resuscitated because of a small piece of apple in a meal." In addition to foods such as stone fruit, kiwis, figs, tomatoes, carrots, nuts and rye, she is particularly bothered by perfumes. "But as I no longer have a sense of smell myself, I don't notice when it becomes dangerous for me."

Please help us too!

Dear readers!
If you would like to help Susanne, who is severely affected, please make a donation to our "Krone" special account at Hypo Oberösterreich under the reference "Hund":

• IBAN: AT76 5400 0000 0040 0002; BIC: OBLAAT2L
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Assistance dog sniffs out dangerous perfumes for woman
For this reason, an assistance dog is now being trained especially for her to alert her immediately to any dangers. King poodle "Gustav" - he is 17 months old - lives with Susanne and accompanies her in everyday life. The training is carried out by experts from a dog school in Kirchdorf an der Krems, takes two years and costs a total of 22,500 euros. "A sum I can't afford on my own," sighs Susanne, hoping for support from the "Krone" family.

Training is already bringing success
"Gustav" will be Austria's first dog to sniff out and report problematic perfume ingredients. The training for the four-legged trainee is already taking root. "I was recently in a waiting room. Suddenly he put his paw on my lap. I knew then that something was wrong. When I asked the people in the room whether someone might be wearing a strong perfume, one woman spoke up. She then left the room, so the danger was averted."