Every night, Allie, one of Law Professor Kristen Adams and her husband Jeff’s beloved Vizslas, jumps on the sofa for a belly rub. One night, when she wasn’t quite seven years old, Adams noticed a spot on the dog’s leg that hadn’t been there before.

“It didn’t look like anything, but it was covered in fur,” Adams said. “We took her to the vet right away.”

The vet said it was serious – and sent her to have the growth removed right away.