Daniel George, and his partner dog Yogi, were voted winners of the 2006 Friends for Life competition, at Crufts on Sunday.

Yogi has been helping twelve year old Daniel, who has Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy, for the past eighteen months. Thanks to training by the charity Dogs for the Disabled, Yogi has given Daniel a new lease of independence.

“I used to feel like I was trapped in a box and unable to get out. Yogi is my best friend; I couldn’t imagine life without him. He’s there to help whenever I need him and makes me smile whenever I feel sad,” Daniel told Dogs for the Disabled.

Yogi’s amazing abilities include helping Daniel to take his socks off, pulling his duvet back on should it come off in the night and barking if Daniel falls.

Daniel and Yogi received an astounding 80% of the 144,000 votes amde by viewers of the BBC’s Crufts coverage. During an emotional ceremony in Crufts’ main ring, Ben Fogle presented the pair with their award, climaxing in a standing ovation from the crowd.

You can find out more about Daniel, Yogi and the work of Dogs for the Disabled at www.dogsforthedisable.org

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Heroic dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.