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Endal (b. 13 December, 1995) is a male Labrador retriever in England whose abilities as a service dog and as an ambassador for service dog charitable work have had considerable news media coverage.

Among other distinctions, Endal has been described as "the most decorated dog in the world" (including "Dog of the Millennium" and the PDSA’s Gold Medal for Animal Gallantry and Devotion to Duty, the highest award available to an animal) and the most famous dog in the UK, has been filmed by over 300 film crews from around the world, and has a number of world "firsts" as an assistance dog to his credit.

Background

Endal

Endal is a pedigree yellow Labrador retriever. Unusually, Endal suffered from birth from the lifelong debilitating joint condition osteochondrosis in both of his front legs, which brought his suitability for assistance dog training into question. However, with the help of a specialized diet and controlled exercise, Endal qualified as a fully operational assistance dog. He became the service dog for disabled ex-Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer Allen Parton in the late 1990s.

Endal's fame has led to his taking on the role of an animal ambassador for service dog related training and charities.

Allen Parton

Allen's head injuries from the Gulf War are serious. They include 50% memory loss and inability to reliably make new memories for more than around 2 days (for example, not recognising his neighbour of 7 years duration), physical disability - he is wheelchair-bound - speech and word difficulties, inability to perceive items that cannot be seen, and inability to safely judge speed and distance of traffic. For a considerable time after partnering Endal, he was unable to speak and was limited to basic sign language.

Work as as a service dog

Endal is able to respond to over one hundred instructions as well as a very large number ("hundreds") of signed commands. He can retrieve items from supermarket shelves, operate buttons and switches and load and empty a washing machine. He is able to put a card into an automated teller machine, retrieve the card when the process is complete and return the card to a wallet.

"When I couldn’t talk, he learned sign language – if I touched my head I wanted my hat, if I touched my face it was for the razor. He learned hundreds of commands in signing. Eventually one day, in this very silent world we lived in, I grunted. That was like an electric shock going through him, he was so excited. They said I’d never speak again, but Endal just dragged the speech out of me." Able Magazine.

The above Able Magazine article continues by noting that "Over the years, Endal has learned to pull the plug out of the bath before going for help if Allen falls unconscious whilst bathing, and is able to put Allen in the recovery position, hit the emergency button on the telephone and summon help ... Endal has learned how to use cash and chip and pin machines, as well as helping out with the shopping, opening train doors, operating lifts, unloading the washing machine and more typical doggie skills like getting the paper."

Parton states that Endal's ability to intuit his wishes and needs showed when they first met, and was responsible for helping him recover from the initial deep depression and trauma caused by his disability. As well as intuiting the operation of a cashpoint (ATM), Endal came again to national attention in a 2001 incident, when Allen was knocked out of his wheelchair by a passing car.

In this incident, Endal pulled Parton, who was unconscious, into the recovery position, retrieved his mobile phone from beneath the car, fetched a blanket and covered him, barked at nearby dwellings for assistance, and then ran to a nearby hotel to obtain help.

Endal is also:

• The first dog to ride on the London Eye.
• The first dog known to be able to operate a Chip and PIN ATM card, including both card insertion and card removal. Self taught.

Awards

Year	Awards
2000	2000 Prodog "Dog of the Year" Award 2000 "Dog of the Millennium" (named by Dogs Today)
2001	2001 "Local Hero" Award
2002	2001/2 "Assistance Dog of the Year" Award 2002 awarded the first ever "Lifetime Achievement" Award at the Golden Bone Awards 2002 first assistance dog to be awarded the UK Kennel Club's "Gold Good Citizen" award, presented at Crufts dog show 2002 2002 PDSA Gold Medal (the UK equivalent of the George Cross) awarded to animals who have shown outstanding devotion to their duties in peace time. (As of 2007 only 10 animals in the UK, all dogs, have been awarded this medal)
2003	Gold Blue Peter Badge, the highest award for "outstanding bravery and courage". One of only two ever awarded to dogs (the other was the Blue Peter dog "Bonnie" in 1991).
2004	2004 "Lifetime Achievement Award" (Wag and Bone Show)
2005	2005 Crufts dog show Runner up "Hero Dog of the Year"

Work as an ambassador for service dog charitable work

Endal's owner/handler Allen Parton, a trustee of the registered charity Canine Partners for Independence, publicises the skilled training which is needed for assistance dogs by using the story of Endal as an example. Allen and Endal are both patrons of Labrador Rescue South East and Central.

According to a description of Endal by Allen at makeyourdogahero.co.uk:

"Another more private role is Endal's work with autistic and terminally ill children. Endal has represented the charity Canine Partners, is a patron of Labrador Rescue, an advisor to Dog Theft Action. He has been used to promote many issues to do with animal welfare and has also helped raise funds for many of the service charities such as SSAFA, the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, British Legion Seafarers UK."

Media recognition

As reported by 'Able' magazine in 2007, "Allen and Endal have become celebrities, with worldwide press attention focusing on Endal’s skills and abilities, as well as a huge number of accolades and medals given as a reward for his support of Allen."

As of 2007 some three hundred camera crews from several countries have interviewed Endal and his owner/handler, and the pair have featured in many print media articles. They also appeared in the "Endal and Dee" episode of the National Geographic Society's Dogs With Jobs TV series and in the book about the series.

A film of a year in the life of Allen and Endal is in production.

Other personality attributes

Allen reports that alongside Endal's working life and training, he still retains the a number of mischevious traits that labradors are known for. As examples he cites that Endal will still decide at times to chase squirrels in the park, or may take waste paper out of the rubbish bin to Allen, in order to gain a reward for "picking it up from the floor".

References

1. ^ "Endal, December 2006" (html). Illinois Springer Spaniel Rescue. Retrieved 2007-06-20. The trophy cabinet at their family home in Hampshire would be the envy of most football club managers and houses an impressive list of awards including Dog of the Millennium and the PDSA's Gold Medal for Animal Gallantry and Devotion to Duty. It is true to say that Endal, who can even count the Queen as one of his devotees, is probably the most decorated dog in the world.
2. http://www.petplanet.co.uk/news_article.asp?article_id=176
3. http://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/2006/March2006/News100306/endal.htm
4. http://www.lrsec.org.uk/Endal/endalhp.htm
5. K9 Perspective Magazine (2007). "Canine Partner Endal opens Sussex Canine Rehabilitation Centre". issue 33, p. 5. Retrieved 2007-09-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. ^ "Sussex Canine Center and other topics" (html). Labrador Rescue South East and Central. Retrieved 2007-06-20. - these badges, although issued by a television show, are seen as a significant and notable accolade in the UK.
7. Sally Pook (14 August 2003). "After 100 years labrador is top dog". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-09-19. Confirming its reputation as the archetypal man's best friend, a labrador named Endal was voted dog of the millennium by Dogs Today magazine for helping Allen Parton after the Royal Navy sailor was injured during the first Gulf war. Endal can carry out 100 tasks to order, including withdrawing money from a cash machine and switching off lights. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. Disabled Persons Railcard (7 April 2007). "Rail Travel is a Piece of Cake". The Disabled Person's Railcard website. Allen is a regular traveller on South West Trains and Endal ably assists from the word go in his journeys by pushing the button to get on the train. He makes regular trips to London and Leeds for the charity, Canine Partners, and has recently been travelling a lot whilst making a film about his life. The pair then settle back in air conditioned comfort and proceed to make friends up the length and breadth of the country on their travels, which are considerable since the pair's celebrity begun to grow a few years ago. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |work= (help)
9. http://pedigreedogs.co.uk/k9bytes/endal_millennium_dog.htm
10. "Canine Partners". South West Trains e-motion magazine. Sept/Oct 2004. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. ^ Able Magazine (2007). "An Unstoppable Partnership". {{cite web}}: External link in |author= (help)
12. BBC News (13 November 2002). "Owner saved by wonder-dog". Retrieved 2007-09-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Allen Parton (March 2001). "Endal: The Millenium Dog" (html). pedigreedogs.co.uk.
14. Rosie Murray-West (15 February 2006). "Labrador has got the technology licked". The Daily Telegraph. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "I thought this was Bark-lays bank". Daily Mail. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. "Hero dog to the rescue". Petersfield Herald. 4 June 2001. Retrieved 2007-09-21. The pair have appeared on television all over the country demonstrating how specially trained dogs can help profoundly disabled people. This week, as they recovered from their ordeal at the Steep home of Canine Partners for Independence , the group who trained Endal, Allen praised his four legged companion: "We've given so many demonstrations on how Endal should go into action if I fall out of my wheelchair but last Thursday Endal did it for real." …Endal was voted Dog of the Millennium by Dogs Today readers and Beta Pet Foods, Dog of the Year by the charities Pro Dogs and Pets As Therapy, and was the first ever winner of the Golden Bonio Award. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. ^ K9 Perspective Magazine (2006). "TV crew making film of partners' year". Issue 27, p. 10. As the filming of the Endal movie now proceeds apace, significant parts of the filming will involve Endal visiting past milestones such as when he was the first ever dog to fly on the British Airways London Eye.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
18. "Endal, December 2006" (html). Illinois Springer Spaniel Rescue. Retrieved 2007-09-06. Most recently Endal, as observed by some of the biggest national newspapers in 2006, has learned how to put the Chip and Pin card into the machine and remove it after the transaction which Allen is proud to reveal makes him the first dog in the world to achieve this remarkable feat.
19. Allen Parton. "When your pet saved your life" (html). Helium.com.
20. "History of Canine Partners: Opening Doors to Independence" (html). Canine Partners UK, founded in 1988.
21. Labrador Rescue South East and Central.
22. Firehouse Dog (film) website (2007). "Endal, Yellow Labrador 11 years old". makeyourdogahero.co.uk.
23. "Dogs With Jobs: Endal and Dee" (html). National Geographic Society (See also Merrily Weisbord filmography and Dogs With Jobs episodes on IMDB). {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
24. Kim Kachanoff and Merrily Weisbord. "Dogs With Jobs: Working Dogs Around the World". Simon & Schuster Atria imprint, 2000. ASIN 0671047353. ISBN 0-67104-735-3, ISBN 978-0671047351. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
25. K9 Perspective Magazine (2006). "Crufts 2006 eventful for Allen and Endal". Issue 27, p. 11. Over the first two days they were followed by a film crew who recorded their every move - not only manning the Canine Partners stand but also launching National Pet Week, promoting Dog Theft Action, giving interviews and making various guest appearances throughout the show.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
26. http://www.dogpage.ision.co.uk/endal.html

See also

• Assistance dog
• Labrador Retriever
• List of Labradors

External links

• Millenium Dog: Endal's home page.
• Canine Partner Endal opens new a new state of the art facility "The Sussex Canine centre" - an example of Endal's work as an ambassador of disabled canine partnership and training facilities.

• Assistance dogs
• Famous dogs
• Human-animal relationships