Pet-roll powered walkies

Ted, the vertigo-suffering German Shepherd pensioned off by the police, has proved a true survivor.

Now 12 years old and weighing about ten stones, he is managing to cope with a crippling disease - with a lot of love and help from his owner, retired farmer Frank Lucas, and their neighbour Janie Martin.

Thanks to them and the use of a "dogmobile", Ted is able to get around Frank's home, high on the fells above St John's Chapel, in Weardale, County Durham.

Six months ago, it was discovered that Ted was suffering from chronic degenerative radiculomyelopathy myleopathy (CDRM), which attacks the nervous system and causes limb defects in older dogs, and particularly German Shepherds.

Since then, Janie, a local kennel owner, has helped Frank load Ted into a special cart so he can go for walks.

She said: "Ted is a lovely dog. I am just so pleased to see him getting about."

Frank decided he needed a guard dog ten years ago after his isolated home had been burgled twice.

"He contacted Durham Police dog training headquarters at Harperley, near Crook, and ended up with Ted.

"They told me he suffered from vertigo and couldn't go up ladders, but that didn't bother me," said Frank .

"I paid them £20 - and it is the best money I have ever spent."

Now Ted is helping with research being carried out into CDRM both in London and America by appearing on a website run by a US company, which supplies carts for dogs with the disease.

Next week, he is to be supplied with a new cart, which will enable Frank to load him single-handed.

So far, no cure has been found for CDRM, which is believed to be caused through the genes of larger dogs.

Alyson Lockwood, the Tyneside-based national secretary of the German Shepherds Help Association, said they were helping the Royal Veterinary College with research into CDRM by supplying, among other things, urine samples from affected dogs.

She said: "Some people have taken to using carts to help their dogs, but that's a personal choice. It is not something we will recommend as an organisation."

Anyone wanting help about CDRM can contact Mrs Lockwood on 0191-413 2038 or via the association's website www.gsdhelpline.freeserve.co.uk

UPDATE
13/11/2000

Ted has died.

His owner, Frank Lucas, has buried 12-year-old Ted in the field where he spent most of the last years of his life on the fells above St John's Chapel in Weardale, County Durham.