The story of the dog that has learned to save his diabetic owner

A guide dog in County Durham saves her owner's life on a daily basis by detecting whether he is close to a diabetic collapse. Zeta, one of the first "hypo-dogs" in the North East, has been trained by diabetes sufferer Cherry Kearton and his wife Angela. She puts her paws on his stomach to test whether the amount of sugar in his blood is at the correct level. If there is a risk of coma, she warns him and he takes his medication. Angela, who trains guide dogs for a living, taught Zeta the life-saving skills when she was a puppy. 'Saved his bacon' She said: "Zeta was being trained as a guide dog but at the end of her training she went lame and could not carry on, that's when I thought I could use her to help my husband. "Believe me, she has saved his bacon on many an occasion. She is not always 100% accurate but she does seem to err on the side of caution." She trained the Labrador by leaving traces of her husband's sweat, which would either be high or low in blood sugar, on a ball of handkerchiefs. Zeta started to familiarise herself with the smell, and when she detected the difference she was awarded with a treat. Ms Kearton added: "It took just over two weeks, the hardest part was persuading her to jump up and alert my husband as she was used to being an obedient guide dog. She has definitely got the hang of it now though."