- Billy, a Jack Russell, is an assistance dog who belongs to Carol Willacy, 45
- Ms Willacy has severe arthritis which seriously restricts her mobility
- Billy helps with everything from taking her shoes off to picking things up
- He also went to find a neighbour for help when she collapsed in her garden
- On another occasion, she fainted outside in the dark on a cold night
- But Billy licked her face until she regained consciousness
04:50 EST, 19 May 2014
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07:39 EST, 19 May 2014
He is her best friend, her guardian angel and her housekeeper.
Meet Billy the Jack Russell who not only empties his owner’s washing machine, helps her get dressed and answers the door to visitors – he has also saved her life.
Billy, who is eight, lives with Carol Willacy, 45, in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
Billy, a Jack Russell, is an assistance dog who lives with Carol Willacy, 45. Ms Willacy has severe arthritis
Ms Willacy has had severe osteoarthritis for eight years and has mobility problems as a result.
She also suffers from unexplained extreme fatigue and uses a wheelchair to get around.
She told MailOnline: ‘Billy is my world – he is everything to me. I just think that whatever else life throws at me, nothing really matters as long as I’ve got him.
‘I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I get to spend my days with him.
‘He really is a dog in a million – I have never known another one like him and I have had dogs all my life. He is my guardian angel.
When Ms Willacy was first unwell, she accompanied a friend who was going to look at a puppy.
Billy helps his owner by emptying the washing machine, putting his head inside it to check he has taken everything out and then closing the door behind him
Billy is also able to open and close doors for Ms Willacy. He open them by pulling on ropes attached to the door handles. He then closes them again by pushing them closed with his body
While they were meeting the puppies, they noticed that the one her friend was buying did not want to be separated from its brother.
As a result, Ms Willacy decided to buy the brother – Billy – because she lives next door to her friend and the puppies would be able to grow up together.
Initially, Billy was just a pet.
However, when he was about a year old, Mr Willacy saw an assistance dog on the television and wondered whether Billy could also be taught some of the skills this dog had.
As a result, she called the charity Support Dogs, in Sheffield, to ask about training.
After an assessment, Billy was accepted on to a training programme.
Ms Willacy said: ‘Billy is my world – he is everything to me. I just think that whatever else life throws at me, nothing really matters as long as I’ve got him’
Ms Willacy bought Billy as a pet but she then saw another assistance dog and wondered whether Billy could learn some of the same skills. As a result, he went to the charity Support Dogs for training
He had four weeks of initial training with the charity and then Ms Willacy joined him for another two weeks of training.
He then spent three months practicing his new found skills before graduating as a fully qualified assistance dog.
He is now able to empty the washing machine, check he has removed all of the clothes and then close the door.
He can also open and close the front door using ropes attached to the door handle and he can help Ms Willacy take her shoes and coat off.
He can
also find items that she asks him for – including keys, her phone and
the television remote control – and picks up anything she has dropped.
He even turns on lights when he enters a room and then turns them off again when he leaves.
Billy can also help Ms Willacy take her shoes and coat off when she comes into the house
On one occasion, Ms Willacy collapsed in her garden and Billy ran down the road to find her carer who lives nearby. He located her house and led her to Ms Willacy even though he had never been there before
Ms Willacy said: ‘He does simple things that make a tremendous difference.
‘He is my little hero. He tries to do everything for me – he is incredibly protective.’
She added: ‘If my cats annoy him he chases them out of the back door and then closes the door behind them.’
But Billy is not only better at housework than the average man – he has also saved Ms Willacy’s life.
Last summer she was doing some gardening when she became very tired.
Determined to finish it, she persisted, but she soon collapsed.
Unbeknown to her, Billy ran to a neighbour’s house and started pawing at the front door.
This neighbour had just accepted a job as Ms Willacy’s carer but Billy had never been to her house.
It remains a mystery how he knew the way.
On another occasion, Ms Willacy collapsed on a winter’s night and Billy licked her face until she came round
The carer heard him pawing at the door and opened it to find him running up and down the road.
She followed him and he led her straight to Ms Willacy who was still unconscious in the garden.
Fortunately, when the carer shook her, she came round and was able to be put to bed to recover.
On another occasion, Ms Willacy fainted while getting out of her car on a dark winter’s night.
She eventually came round two hours later to discover that Billy had been licking her face since she lost consciousness.
She believes that had he not kept licking her, she would have remained unconscious outside all night.
On
a third occasion, Ms Willacy woke up with breathing difficulties and
found that the cords she uses to pull herself up in bed were tangled up.
She started to panic but before she knew it, Billy had turned the lights on and untangled the cords so that she could sit up.
Ms Willacy said: ‘He does simple things that make a tremendous difference. He is my little hero. He tries to do everything for me – he is incredibly protective’
Ms Willacy is now a staunch supporter of Support Dogs.
She told MailOnline: ‘The charity is amazing but they are struggling for funds at the moment.
‘They get no help from the government so they have to rely on public donations.
‘They are the most fantastic people you could ever meet – I really owe my life to them.’
For more information, or to support the charity, visit www.support-dogs.org.ukÂ
Billy has been entered into the Drontal Special Roles competition run by Drontal, a maker of animal worming products.
The competition is seeking to find some of Britain’s most exceptional pets and the winning owner will receive £500 in cash and their pet with feature in a Drontal magazine advert.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/drontaluk
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Mr G Myers,
London,
moments ago
Jack Russell and Parson Russell terriers really are very clever loving little members of a family.
Eileen,
Sitting on a rainbow, United States,
38 minutes ago
Lose weight and you’ll be able to bend over to remove your own shoes…
Another ‘disabled’ person who doesn’t admit it’s self inflicted.
2 of 3 replies
Hamilton2015McLaren,
London England, United Kingdom,
13 minutes ago
Shaznay Hadenfreude,
Hastings, United Kingdom,
moments ago
Kz,
London, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
Dogs are sweet if properly trained and loved.
MedusaC,
manchester, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
Awesome little dog; on the other hand, Ms Willacy could perhaps consider helping herself a bit more by shedding some of that weight; it can’t be doing her any favours to be so overweight with health conditions.
Arnaud Sachsen,
Helston,
1 hour ago
Aunt Bessie,
Bradford, United Kingdom,
46 minutes ago
der kaiser,
beverley, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
i had a jr for 20 years,clever intelligent and absolutely mental,still miss him,if hes in doggy heaven rip jockey
zakohani,
London,
2 hours ago
What an awesome dog!!
Bruce,
Grafenwoehr,
2 hours ago
That is a wonderful story (and dog)!
Natty01,
Kent, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
What an amazing little guy and so cute too! x
Grumpy,
Dublin, Ireland,
2 hours ago
Genius dog
Rock Ape,
Dorset, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
After reading this story I think I will get rid of the wife and get a Billy. I am sure he does not nag and he does the washing, what more could a man want?
Aunt Bessie,
Bradford, United Kingdom,
51 minutes ago
Shaznay Hadenfreude,
Hastings, United Kingdom,
moments ago
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