{"id":17296,"date":"2014-03-02T10:25:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T09:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petspyjamas.com\/blog\/?p=17296"},"modified":"2025-03-03T13:10:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T12:10:36","slug":"wonder-dog-amber-helps-owner-cerebral-palsy-ms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petspyjamas.com\/blog\/wonder-dog-amber-helps-owner-cerebral-palsy-ms\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wonder-dog\u2019 Amber helps owner with cerebral palsy &#038; MS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Labrador\/golden retriever cross Amber is living proof that dogs truly are man\u2019s best friend.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over the past year she has been helping her owner Helen Bree complete daily tasks, including getting dressed and food shopping, that had been made increasingly difficult due to her life-long cerebral palsy and progressive multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17298 aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-5.jpg\" alt=\"wonderdog 5\" width=\"634\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.petspyjamas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-5.jpg 634w, https:\/\/www.petspyjamas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-5-220x140.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Affectionately called her \u2018big ginger nut\u2019, Amber has been trained to pass Helen her clothes, load the washing machine, hand her the phone when it rings and even tuck her into bed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17299 aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-6.jpg\" alt=\"wonderdog 6\" width=\"634\" height=\"425\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although Helen had been born with cerebral palsy which made it difficult for her to walk she attended a mainstream school and carved out a successful career with the Health &amp; Safety Executive, even being awarded an MBE.<\/p>\n<p>It was only in 2006 when her health worsened, and MS confined her to a wheelchair that she began to lose her independence.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17302 aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-3.jpg\" alt=\"wonderdog 3\" width=\"634\" height=\"657\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would fall and be unable to get up, sometimes injuring myself, and doing the simplest tasks like putting on socks, closing doors and shopping, took much longer. My increasing pain and fatigue made me feel depressed to the point of crying at the end of the day,\u201d said Helen.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, Helen watched a TV programme showing the work of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.caninepartners.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Canine Partners<\/a>, a charity that assists people with disabilities to enjoy independence and a better quality of life through specially trained dogs.\u00a0Helen applied and went to the centre a few months later where she met Amber. Just before Christmas last year they were matched, and embarked on a two-week training course. The rest is history!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17300 aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wonderdog-8.jpg\" alt=\"wonderdog 8\" width=\"634\" height=\"533\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s been the best thing to happen to me in years and what I\u2019d do without her, I really don\u2019t know,\u201d said Helen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Proving dogs really are man&#8217;s best friend is Amber who helps her owner Helen with day-to-day tasks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":17298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,757],"tags":[4,790],"class_list":["post-17296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-pet-lifestyle","tag-dog","tag-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>\u2018Wonder-dog\u2019 Amber helps owner with cerebral palsy &amp; MS \/ PetsPyjamas<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petspyjamas.com\/blog\/wonder-dog-amber-helps-owner-cerebral-palsy-ms\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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