Friday, March 6, 2009

Meet Edward the wonder dog

EDWARD the wonder dog saves the life of his owner every time she goes to bed.
Wendy Hilling can stop breathing in her sleep because of an extreme skin condition which could suffocate her.
But Edward, a golden retriever, is trained to listen out as she’s sleeping, and he wakes her husband Peter if her breathing pattern changes.
He also lends a paw with the washing and zips up Wendy's coat for her.
He can even WITHDRAW money from a cash machine.
Wendy, 59, from West Yelland, Devon, suffers from dystrophic recessive epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disorder which causes extremely fragile skin.
It also causes rapid blistering inside her throat which could stop her from breathing.
She was born with the condition, but says that since Edward arrived in January 2007, her life has been transformed.

Lifesaver
"I had wanted a canine partner for sometime but all the others I had tried had been far too rough, through no fault of their own," she said.
"The trainers at Canine Partners thought that the best way around the problem was for me to help them train up a puppy.
"Edward was born to Exmoor breeders Colin and Sheila Martin who have bred many canine partners over the years.
"He came to me aged just one month old, covered in hair and looking like a little toy bear - that’s why I named him Edward, or Teddy for short."
Edward can perform in response to more than 120 commands, some of which are lifesavers.
Wendy said: "Due to my condition, my throat is the size of a five pence piece and can close at any time, stopping my breathing in the process."
Wendy’s condition means that any sort of contact with her skin can cause it to tear and blister, both internally and externally.
She said: "Edward does a lot of the tricky things for me now and it’s amazing what a fast learner he is.
"Only this week we discovered that he would insert and remove my credit card from cash machines.
"He’s completely changed my life and I don’t know what I’d do without him."
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