Longford woman immensely proud of her award winning Dalmatian 'Danny'

Granard woman Gill Pavey and her dog 'Danny' made a guest appearance on the Late Late Show recently after her beloved pet was named among the six finalists in the Irish Kennel Club's 'Golden Paw Hero Dog Awards'.

Danny, a six-year-old Dalmatian, won the 'companion dog' category for making Gill's autism disability easier to deal with.

Organised by The Irish Kennel Club and sponsored by PetInsure.ie, the awards aims to find, recognise and reward Ireland’s most courageous canines.

Gill appeared alongside host Ryan Tubridy ahead of the finals held in the Clayton Dublin Airport Hotel the following day.

The annual awards are open to any dog who performs an act that significantly benefited a community or individual.

Despite narrowly missing out on the top award, Danny picked up a Companion Dog Award, much to Gill's obvious delight, “I have autism (for which I get no help), I am partially deaf and live alone but for my dogs and find life difficult at times,” said Gill.

“Danny is always there to stop me from going into meltdown when things become too much for me to deal with.”

Gill said aside from Danny's endearing character, his mere presence has proved to be an immeasurable asset to her in everyday life.

“He is a tremendous comfort and seems to understand when I need sympathy,” she said.

“He has the best temperament of any Dalmatian I have owned over the past 25 years, loves everyone but will deter anyone approaching the house with loud barking until he is reassured they are “allowed” to be there.”

Gill said like her daily battles, Danny has endured his own but has, and continues to be her go to support base in almost everything she does.

“Despite his being deaf in one ear, like myself, he can hear approaching traffic when I can’t and alerts me so we can step on to the verge or into a field entrance in plenty of time.

“Dalmatians have the characteristic of looking out for “their people”. As well as their pace and endurance, this made them great carriage dogs in 18th century England, as they would protect the occupants of the carriage from highwaymen,” Gill explains.

“Danny has the “protecting his person” characteristic in excess. He is my unofficial therapy dog and the best companion anyone can have,” the proud dog owner concluded.