Thanks to the Kennel Club Charitable Trust (KCCT), seven year old Sam Daly from Eton, Berkshire passed the biggest test of his life so far last week, alongside his assistance dog, Josie. The young duo, trained by the assistance dog charity Dogs for the Disabled, successfully passed their compatibility assessment to show that they make a great team together.

Josie’s training was made possible due to the financial support that the KCCT has made in the form of grants to Dogs for the Disabled.

Sam is a wheelchair user with muscular dystrophy whose life will be dramatically improved now he has been teamed up with an assistance dog specifically trained to work with children. Josie, an 18 month old yellow Labrador Retriever, can help Sam with many important everyday tasks including removing his socks and undoing zips, opening doors, and even taking notes between Sam and his parents if he needs their assistance.

Josie is one of four dogs trained as part of the KCCT investment at the Dogs for the Disabled’s national training centre in Banbury. Dog trainers have worked individually with each dog to find out what they enjoy, build their confidence and teach practical skills using reward based methods of training. The dogs are trained in five main taskwork areas based on the dog’s natural instincts; obedience, retrieving, pushing an object, pulling an object and barking on request. The programme is unique in the UK in that it specifically trains dogs to cater for the needs of disabled children.

Back in June, Sam and his mum Sarah Daly spent nine days at the training centre getting acquainted with his new best friend and learning exactly how Josie can help him go about his daily life. Since then, supported by instructor Becky Harris, the team has been putting all their training into practice back at home, ready for their qualification assessment last week.

The Kennel Club Charitable Trust has given nearly £100,000 to Dogs for the Disabled since 1991. The charity was the first in the UK to train assistance dogs to help physically disabled children and adults to live a more independent life. The organisation currently has around 200 assistance dogs working with disabled clients throughout England and Wales.

Mike Townsend, Chairman of the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, said: “It is an honour for us to be a part of making such a difference to Sam’s life and the lives of many others at this pioneering training centre at Dogs for the Disabled. The work they do in training dogs to help improve peoples’ lives is both groundbreaking and invaluable for disabled people across the country. We look forward to working further with the group to continue this bond.”

Sarah Daly, Sam’s mother, said: “Josie has completely changed Sam’s life. For the first time ever, he can have his own independence. Sam can now play on his own in the garden thanks to Josie, something we would never had dreamed he would do, before she came along. We can’t believe the change already in Sam.”