When Bodhi the Bearded Collie bounced into Boscombe Spa resident Emma Smith’s life, she could not predict how much of an impact he would have.

Emma is losing her hearing in one ear and so decided, along with husband Sam, that they would train a dog up in preparation for if and when she lost her hearing altogether.

But when duty called last year, Bodhi went above and beyond what was expected of him.

“We were planning to train him to future-proof and never to qualify until I needed him,” says 32-year-old Emma, who works at Bournemouth University.

“Then, in the course of the year that we’d had him, I got very ill.

“I contracted sepsis, and then my mobility kind of stopped altogether and I couldn’t bend down or walk somewhere – anything really, I was completely bedbound for a while.

“So, we taught Bodhi how to pick objects up, how to go and find certain objects like my medication and things like that.

“Now I’m mobile again but I do have to be careful about how much I’m moving. I lose my balance quite often and I’ll fall over, so he’s trained in balance work as well, and wears a special harness to make sure I don’t fall.

“Originally he was just going to be family dog with extra skills. We wanted a little snuggle buddy for our family.

“We got him for one reason, and actually he turned out to be working a lot sooner than we thought he would!”

To celebrate the impact he has had, Bodhi will be rewarded at the 127th edition of Crufts this week, where the Bearded Collie Club are organising a special awards event.

Medals will be presented to Kennel Club breed-registered Bearded Collies that are actively working in a therapy dog capacity to celebrate their valuable contributions to their various communities.

It is the aim to recognise that although an active and intelligent breed they have adapted their wonderful and caring temperaments to work in the modern world.

“They’re the happiest dogs ever. They have an undeniable smile – you can see that they’re always smiling and they’re known as bouncing Beardies because they bounce,” Emma added.

“He just wants to be friendly with everyone all the time, which is quite difficult now especially because he’s training to be an assistance dog and has to ignore everybody while he’s working.

“The amount that he has given back to me in the 18 months that we’ve had him has been phenomenal.

“I was bedbound for quite a lot of that time and my mental health would have suffered had I not had him.

“He’s just brilliant, he’s given me so much that I can work towards.

“He is an incredible dog. I know that everybody thinks that their dog is the best dog, but he really is incredible.”