‘No one speaks to you if you don’t have a dog’

For Ann Blake, getting her assistance dog Snoopy, has been quite simply "life-changing".

Ann, from Godshill, in the New Forest, has lived with muscular dystrophy for six years, which is a genetic condition that gradually causes the muscles to weaken.

She told BBC Radio Solent having Snoopy stops her thinking about being in a wheelchair.

“I think it’s because you’re at a different level, but no one actually speaks to you if you’ve not got a dog but now people interact and say 'what does he do?'”

Speaking about her diagnosis in 2018, Ann said it came as a shock: “Before that I was going to the gym four days a week, very very fit, working full time.”

She initially thought her symptoms were due to problems she was having with her heart.

"I said to the cardiologist, everything aches rather like when you have flu and he asked for a particular blood test to be done and I came up on that.

“So I got sent to a rheumatologist and then a neurologist and they said it's muscular dystrophy,” she explained.

When the Covid pandemic hit in 2020, Ann made the decision to welcome Snoopy into her home and then applied to Dog AID UK for help in training him to become a fully qualified assistance dog.

Assistance dogs can help out in a variety of ways from acting as a guide to blind people, to fetching washing out of the washing machine.

“I thought well I’ll give this a go, so we managed to get Snoopy and we just kept our fingers crossed that we would be accepted and he’s been life-changing he really, really has,” she said.

Ann also joined MD UK, a charity that supports people diagnosed with the condition, and has now put together a book to help fundraise for them.

It is called A Legacy of Love and features artwork from artists across the world.

“The furthest artist away is Australia, then I’ve got Canada, America and lots from the New Forest,” she said.

Among the artists is Gilson Lavis, a former bandmate and drummer for Jools Holland.

“She has achieved a remarkable thing with this book," he said.

Mr Lavis called being asked to contribute to the book "a privilege" and said he drew a dog similar to Snoopy, alongside a lady in a wheelchair.

“I have tried to make it poignant, where the dog is just waiting for any way that they can be of service to the lady in a wheelchair.

"I haven’t drawn Ann or her dog but I have paid homage to it so that is my contribution."

Ann has raised £4,000 with the book so far, part of which will also be going to Dog A.I.D UK.

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