According to the prefectural government, sickness-detection canines, working like drug-sniffing dogs, can determine whether individuals are ill based on the smell of their exhaled air and urine. [...] Researchers will study disease specimens provided by medical institutes. The prefecture expects to train two canines from the Labrador Retriever and other breeds known for their high concentration levels. Research on such dogs has been carried out in Finland and Britain. In Japan, Kaneyama town in Yamagata Prefecture funded a similar program in fiscal 2017 and 2018.