14 DAY TRIAL // Kathryn Hoffman, 66, who works as a duty officer at a center for the Homeless, found an ingenious way to help her 94-year-old mother, Elsie Talbot, with the household chores. Instead of employing a caregiver, the woman decided to train her dog Fergus to lend a helping hand.
Fergus is a very intelligent Labradoodle, a crossbred dog created by crossing the Labrador Retriever and the Poodle, as he learned to do a lot of tasks.
According to Daily Mail, Fergus has been trained to perform different domestic chores, such as pushing doors open, pull out clothes from the washing machine, fetching slippers and carrying the newspaper. He also fetches keys and the remote control when they are out of reach for the aging lady.
The four-year-old dog has attended obedience classes and has taken part in scent training, which means he is able to detect explosives and bodies. The commands he has learned help him find various items through the house.
Kathryn Hoffman and her husband Bob got the four-year-old Labradoodle as company for their lonely German Shepherd after another dog died, but when they noticed his abilities, they decided to put them to good use.
“My mum is elderly and I thought actually he could, say she was staying here and I'd gone to work he could do things for her. She's almost 95 so some things are a bit difficult. I thought it would be a real help if he could do things like empty the washing machine,” Kathryn explained.
With some tempting nugget treats, she taught him to pull socks and pants from the bowl and drop them into a laundry basket.
Fergus also “works” as a registered PAT dog (pets as therapy) at a local neurological center, bringing comfort and companionship to many of its patients.
The dog seems to have an endless appetite which got him into trouble. Last year, he swallowed a mobile phone battery and was rushed to the vet by his owner. Luckily, by the time they realized he had ingurgitated the piece, it had already passed through him.
Recently, the Labradoodle has learned new skills as part of a TV show called Superstar Dogs, which seeks to find the country's most able hound. The series will see dog pairs compete in a series of challenges such as swimming, jumping and agility for the big prize consisting in $1,600 (€1,150).