ELTON, an eight-month-old labrador, has pulled on Australia’s heartstrings to win pet photographer PuppyTales’ 2023 Australian Dog of the Year, People’s Choice Award.

It all began when, at nine-weeks-old, Elton was introduced to a new best friend, seven-year-old Charlie Clode, at their home in Bruce.

Charlie has autism, an intellectual disability and a severe heart condition, leaving Elton, a learner assistance dog, with the very important task of alerting people to Charlie’s oncoming seizures.

Melissa, Charlie’s mum, says he has a genetic condition called DiGeorge syndrome, or 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

“He was born with a severe heart condition, without a connection between his heart and lungs. So, he had a lot of heart surgeries to make him survive initially.

“During those heart surgeries he had a couple of strokes. He lost 20 per cent of his brain and he was very critical for a while, and the brain damage has caused him to have seizures,” she says.

Elton has been through puppy school, adolescent school and is now doing formal training with ABCDOG Dog Training.

“It’s been wonderful, right from when Elton was a little puppy Charlie has had a number of hospital admissions, so we have been – with permission from the hospital – able to bring Elton in for short stays,” says Melissa.

“Elton has started to do some public-access training as well. He’s had a few stints now in resuscitation and the emergency department, and we’ve spent quite a lot of time around pediatrics, in high-care and through day-stay as well.

“Elton has alerted to a number of seizures already. After Charlie has a seizure and he’s had some oxygen and some rescue medication, Elton will hop over his body and give him like a big hug but it offers deep pressure. Charlie often feels like he’s falling after a seizure so it’s like a big hug from his best friend.”

Charlie spends a lot of time socially isolated, because his different health constraints often keep him away from his school, Malkara School, in Garran.

“Elton will sleep either next to Charlie on the ground or up on the bed, depending on what Charlie wants, and he is always watching him. So having a little friend in Elton that he can do everything with is quite cute,” says Melissa.

“I’ve kind of really enjoyed the process of Elton, having this many hospital admissions, giving resuscitations to my son and sometimes being told he’s not going to make it, we as parents get a lot of our own trauma so actually being involved in the process and training Elton and having him as part of our family and our medical team has been pretty awesome.

“We spent a significant amount of time making sure we picked a dog with the right temperament to do this kind of work for Charlie.” 

Melissa says it was lovely to see the community get behind voting for him, with the win announced at the end of last month.

“I’m certain that it was the big Canberra village that we’ve got that made that happen. I don’t think we’ve ever won a popularity contest, but Elton’s clearly tugging at heartstrings and that’s a good thing,” says Melissa, who shared their story on Facebook to get as many award-winning votes as possible for Elton and Charlie.

The chosen charity for Elton’s winnings, a $150 donation, is Stella Bella Little Stars Foundation.

“It is an absolutely amazing charity. They often work in the background where people don’t often see it, making sure that families have little treats in hospital, to making sure families have the really important support that they might need or might become unaffordable,” says Melissa.

The next steps for Elton will be taken with some new boots.

“Hospitals can be pretty slippery so Elton’s boots make it easier to grip on, and they are also super dirty so they go on when he’s walking around, and off when he hops on to the bed with Charlie,” says Melissa.

“Our biggest upcoming thing is Charlie’s next heart surgery, I’d love to have Elton at Westmead, so he has to pass his public access test – which he won’t have any problems doing, he’s a bit too enthusiastic sometimes but he’ll calm down as he gets older – that will be probably in the next 12 to 18 months, everything we have had as an aspiration, Elton is already doing so we’re pretty lucky.”