BREED APART
Crufts dogs that have transformed lives
ALL eyes will be on Crufts’ best in show but it may not be top dog.
That honour could go to Barna who has transformed his sick owner’s life. The Hungarian vizsla can sense and alert owner Emily Cook’s when she is about to slip into unconsciousness.
Among the other amazing dogs at Crufts in Birmingham’s NEC from March 5 to 8 are Maisie and Buddy.
Maisie has given anxious Jenny Witt, 20, confidence and Buddy is a tower of strength to owner Charlotte Baker, 16.
Emily, 20, and Barna will meet the public at the Medical Detection Dogs stand at Crufts to promote the charity.
Scary
Emily can lose her sight and ability to talk for months. She has collapsed more than 100 times and had to learn to walk again. At 13 she was diagnosed with dissociative disorder, including identity loss, confusion, and nerve problems.
She said: “It is scary and frustrating after a collapse. I’m willing my legs to move or my mouth to form words but the signals can’t get there. Once I spent six months in a wheelchair and crutches relearning to walk. Learning to see again takes a month or so, which is horrible. Slowly I can make out silhouettes, then colours and finally detail.
“Over the years I’ve adapted through sheer repetitiveness but it’s hard. I was academic and planned to be a doctor but that now can’t be.”
Before she got Barna in 2016,
Emily could not leave the house alone for fear of being struck down somewhere unsafe and coming to harm.
She said: “We’d had Barna six months when he jumped up one day, sat directly in front of me, staring intensely, and barked once. Five minutes later I was unconscious. It’s likely he’d smelt my condition and realised the scent equals that outcome and wanted to protect me.
“Before, I couldn’t go out independently because of the risk of suddenly collapsing in public, like when crossing the road.
“His five-minute warning lets me get safe, call emergency contacts and let people know what will happen. He’s been 100 per cent accurate.”
Jenny was gripped with such intense anxiety from the age of 11 that it ruined her school career. Barely able to leave home and isolated, she left mainstream education at 15.
Taking in chihuahua Sophie in 2015 made a huge difference. She said: “I felt so alone. The panic and distress I felt around others was ruining my life.
“Sophie became a best friend and taking her out for walks pushed me to get out in public as focusing on her distracted me from my fear.” Using Youtube dog-handling tutorials every day she taught Sophie 150 different moves like back flipping and waving her paws.
Jenny, of Meols, Merseyside, also took in border collie Maisie in 2016, training her up in the heel work to music rounds.
Professional dog walker Jenny said: “The idea of stepping out in front of a crowd would have been impossible to me before. Sophie and Maisie have helped me better than medication and counselling ever did.” Jenny and Maisie will be entering agility, obedience and heel work to music categories.
Charlotte will compete in the showing and agility rounds with cockapoo/maltese cross, Buddy.
Charlotte said Buddy has been a tower of strength since her brother Dominic died in a car accident at 21.
Her mum Sarah, 41, said: “It was a dreadful shock for us all, Charlotte was only ten. She needed a friend so three years ago we got her Buddy. The name says it all. He was her shadow. She had a companion who was reliant on her.” In 2017 Charlotte, of Ditcheat, Somerset, was soon training Buddy four times a week. Crufts’ Bill Lambert said: “These stories show what a remarkable impact dogs can have on our lives.”