Bouncer is devoted to his owner Paula.
Paula was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was six months old. In 1997, she had part of a lung removed. In 2007, she had a major scoliosis operation and was also diagnosed with diabetes. Last year, Paula received a double lung transplant.
Bouncer joined Paula's family when she was just six years and he was a puppy. The 10-year-old English Springer Spaniel and his owner have grown up together. Paula says that taking care of Bouncer gave her the drive to get better because "I wanted to stay around to look after Bouncer."
Since joining the family, Bouncer has been Paula's constant source of unconditional love, devotion and strength. As she continues to recover from her transplant, Paula knows that Bouncer will be by her side through the good days as well as the bad days.
Because of his devotion to Paula, Bouncer was nominated for the DFS Crufts Friends for Life Award. According to a kennel club spokesperson: "The Crufts Friends for Life competition shows what a positive difference dogs make to people, from saving lives to giving them a purpose to carry on, and illustrates their intuition and the lengths they will go to in order to look after their owners and care givers. As a society of dog loving owners, we have a duty to recognize, respect and raise awareness of this, and give back to them all we can."