Wallace the Labrador was lying in front of the fire beside Dee Dee, a miniature poodle. Diana and Richard Rhodes have always kept pets, but Wallace, although a dog, is not a pet – he is a canine partner.

We were discussing the upcoming Bluebell Walk to raise money for the charity Canine Partners when Diana, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past 30 years, moved out of the room to get the address book. Wallace jumped up, stretched and followed her.

“He never leaves her side,” said Richard. “He sleeps beside her bed and if I’m in the garden and Diana needs me, he picks up a bell and rings it.”

Wallace has been Diana’s canine partner for the past three and a half years, ever since she was assessed and accepted by the charity. He can do an extraordinary number of everyday tasks. He is a ‘Nana’ dog like the Darling family’s dog in Peter Pan, for he will take off Diana’s socks, open and unload the washing machine, pick up dropped items and bring Diana the phone.

But these are merely mechanical things and Wallace is no robot. On days when Diana is in pain he will sit beside her and place his head in her lap. Like all dogs, he gives unconditional love but Diana says she is very aware that he is a dog and not a human in a dog costume. When he plays he is a “typical Labrador idiot with a weakness for water”.

Continuous training

Every one of Canine Partners’ dogs has undergone continuous training since puppyhood, so by the time Diana was chosen by Wallace he could perform over 100 tasks. Going out and about on an intensive two-week training course that Diana nicknamed Boot Camp, she discovered that in a big department store, Wallace could not only press the button for the lift but hand over her purse to a sales assistant.

He has transformed Diana’s life through his constant companionship and with Wallace at her side she has discovered a newfound independence.

Richard says that the greatest gift is that “Wallace breaks down the barrier of the wheelchair.”

Many people, when confronted with someone in a wheelchair, shy away from contact. Both Canine Partners and Support Dogs, a charity that trains Disability Assistance Dogs for the same purpose, help break down that barrier. The dogs form a living, breathing bridge between their partner and the rest of the world and what people see is not someone in a wheelchair, but someone who is clever enough to own a very clever dog.

Visible helper

Hearing Dogs break down barriers in exactly the same way for the deaf, opening up the world with their companionship and giving confidence by being alert to the sounds that we take for granted. With their distinctive burgundy jacket emblazoned with the words ‘Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’, they are a very visible sign of what is, after all, an invisible disability.

Hearing Dogs come in all shapes and sizes; they can be as small as a Papillon or, in the words of the charity, “the largest, scruffiest mongrel”. Whenever possible the dogs are selected from rescue centres, but they are also donated by breeders and the general public, and the charity runs its own small breeding scheme of non-moulting breeds such as poodles and poodle crosses, which are often requested by people who have allergies.

The dogs are initially chosen for their friendly nature and volunteers socialise the dogs, taking them out and about and accustoming them to as many different situations as possible.

They then undergo four months of ‘sound work’, a programme that trains each dog to recognise and react to a number of sounds such as the telephone, doorbell and smoke alarm.

Rescued and rescuer

Hearing Dogs will consider training a dog that is owned by an applicant. Of course it doesn’t necessarily follow that the pet dog in question can be trained, but sometimes, as in the case of Brian Wallis and his golden retriever, Garry, it is the perfect solution.

Brian lost his hearing gradually and felt “as though I was sinking into a black hole”. The loss of hearing was so depressing that when his friends and family called round, he would close his eyes and pretend to sleep because the thought of trying to talk to people was unbearable.

Garry entered his life as a boisterous young dog who, but for Brian and his wife, would have been destined for a rescue centre. He gave Brian companionship and the world began to widen again when he got an electric scooter so he could take Garry for walks. Brian began to wonder whether Garry might be eligible for the Hearing Dog programme.

The answer was yes, and although Brian found it almost unbearable to be parted from the dog for the four months’ sound training, the long wait has been more than worth it.

Now Brian no longer has to sit at the window waiting for the ambulance to take him for his routine visit to the hospital, and once there he no longer misses his appointment – staff now notice that Brian is deaf because he has Garry by his side.

Canine empathy

The empathy that a dog can feel is truly remarkable and the charity Support Dogs has used this canine characteristic in remarkable ways. It was set up in 1992 by Valerie Strong to help disabled people, but the charity has also gone on to train dogs as Seizure Alert Dogs and Autism Assistance Dogs.

In 1994 Valerie was approached by a physically disabled lady who also had epilepsy, and the idea of training a dog to predict seizures was born. Together they chose and trained a rescue dog and within three months the dog was giving a 30-minute warning of every seizure.

The ability of dogs to empathise with their owners and forge the strongest of bonds through, as Diana says, ‘unconditional love’, has led to one of the most remarkable programmes – that of Autism Assistance. Pioneered in Canada and Ireland, Autism Assistance was taken on by Support Dogs’ Head of Training, Rita Howson, after a request from a parent of an autistic child.

The first Autism Assistance Dog was placed in 2007 and it has been an unqualified success. Such dogs change not only the life of the child but transform the life of the family itself.

Autistic children can easily become isolated and detached from the world. For parents of such children, life is highly stressful, not least because an autistic child is prone to bolt without any fear of the consequences of cars or other dangers.

Autistic children often respond to animals where they do not respond to people. They can take on and learn responsibility for the first time and, because dog and child act together, it increases the safety and independence of that child.

Dogs such as these give children and adults with all types of disability a new life. They are living bridges between the general public and the disabled. The organisations that train these dogs, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Canine Partners, Support Dogs and Hearing Dogs have come together under one organisation, Assistance Dogs UK. Its motto is ‘Training assistance dogs to transform the lives of people with disabilities’ and it does just that.

Further information All four charities welcome volunteers and donations, and also provide information and application forms for those who qualify to receive a dog. Their details are:

• Canine Partners:tel: 08456 580480,email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.caninepartners.co.uk
• Support Dogs:tel: 0114 261 7800, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Hearing Dogs:tel: 01844 348100, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.hearingdogs.org.uk
• Guide Dogs for the Blind:tel: 0118 983 5555, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.guidedogs.org.uk