Grantham woman rescued by assistance dog Zara after being stranded in field

An assistance dog came to the rescue of its owner after she was left stuck with no mobile phone to call for help.

One day, Janet Lee, who lives in Barrowby near Grantham with husband Phil, left home on her disability scooter.

She did not have her phone with her and later became stranded on a grassy bank half-a-mile from her home.

However, her assistance dog Zara, a German short-haired pointer, was able to do her special alert bark, which a charity called Support Dogs trained her to do.

Half-an-hour later, Janet, who suffers from progressive multiple sclerosis, was located by her son Scott.

On how much Zara helps Janet, she said: “She will pick up things like the TV remote, glasses, pens, papers, anything that I drop.

“She just does it and never thinks twice about it. If Phil’s not there, I feel confident she would help me.”

Zara also opens doors and cupboards, lifts the footplates off Janet’s wheelchair and loads the washing machine.

Janet was first diagnosed with MS around 20 years ago. It was shortly after her diagnosis she lost the use of her legs.

She added: “Doctors got me back on my feet and I was fine for another 10 years. But, I’ve gradually gotten worse as time has gone by.”

Janet first got Zara three years ago, after she pestered Phil for another family dog.

After noticing a number of assistance dogs in the area, she enquired about having Zara trained with Support Dogs.

After a few months, Janet and Zara were accepted onto the charity’s Disability Assistance programme, and in February this year, they began their training.

Following eight months of hard work, they have now successfully graduated as a Support Dogs partnership.

Phil describes Zara as “awesome”. He added: “If something is wrong with Janet, Zara will bark and fetch me.

“She’s got a talent that other gun dogs haven’t got and she has been fantastic on the Support Dogs’ training programme.”