A finalist in the Kennel Club’s prestigious Hero Dog Award at Crufts, para sailor Jazz Turner tells Joanne Bednall how Golden Retriever Phoebe enables her to live life to the full.
A sassy madam” and “highly intelligent idiot” is how 25-year-old Jazz Turner best describes her super-special support dog, Phoebe. The Team GB para sailor, from Seaford, East Sussex, says she simply could not live her life – let alone pursue her dreams - without the five-year-old rescue Golden Retriever by her side.
Jazz was diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a life-limiting progressive condition, when she was 18. Suffering from this chronically painful connective tissue disorder means that Jazz’s body doesn’t make any collagen, so her joints dislocate regularly – in fact, her hips dislocate every time she gets out of her wheelchair. The condition also affects Jazz’s heart and lungs, and she has to be fed intravenously.
Four years ago, after an unsuccessful attempt at training a Cavachon as an assistance dog, Jazz went to view a litter of Golden Retriever puppies, whose mum put her head on the former student’s lap and looked dolefully into her eyes.
“Ideally, I wanted an older dog rather than a puppy,” explained Jazz, who immediately fell in love with Phoebe, who was then aged just one.
“The breeders said that she was aggressive, untrainable, not good with children and couldn’t be let off the lead. But I managed to recall her immediately.”
Phoebe had apparently been tied to a table for seven hours in an attempt to stop her from jumping up, but after the breeders were closed down, Jazz approached them offering Phoebe a home.
“From the first day I had her, she was nuts and tried to chew everything,” recalled Jazz, who was determined to do whatever it took to build a bond with the errant retriever.
“Phoebe was scared of loud noises, hated cars, had massive separation anxiety and didn’t know how to play – she’d never been allowed to just be a dog.”
So, Jazz set about teaching Phoebe how to be a dog, with the pair initially just sitting in a local park together for three hours at a time.
“After about three months, Phoebe turned a corner and her behaviour improved,” continued Jazz, who knew it would take a lot of time and patience to train Phoebe as an assistance dog – but she was determined to get there.
“I took
