Brad Smeele was a wakeboarding champion at the peak of his career when a freak accident left him a quadriplegic at the age of 27.
That was 10 years ago and, ever since, Smeele has been using his experience to help others. He's also been on the lookout for a companion — of the four-legged variety.
Enter Jettson (Jett for short), the red merle miniature shepherd (Mini Aussie) from Christchurch — Smeele's companion pup.
"I always wanted a dog," said Smeele. "I was very interested in what a dog might be able to do to help out for me — not only as a companion but also potentially as a service dog.
"It was love at first sight. I'd gravitated towards Jett from the beginning.
"I looked down and Jett’s head was between my feet, and I saw this wagging tail. I kind of knew that he'd chosen me at the time, so that was it.”
Eleven-week-old Jett has been Smeele's companion for just under three weeks. And during that time, Smeele has enlisted the help of expert dog trainer and animal behaviourist, Mark Vette.
Vette lives in Coromandel but visits Auckland regularly to keep up the momentum with training.
When Seven Sharp caught up with Smeele, Vette was busy training Jett.
"The bonding process that we're doing with Brad is touch and smell. Using a bit of ham, and click-rewarding gently a command," said Vette.
“It might seem silly and a little bit unusual, but taste and smell are a very important bonding process for a pup."
Jett must learn that Smeele is the pack leader, as opposed to his caregivers.
“There are little moments when I'm a little bit jealous [that] Jett's following my caregivers around instead of me because they're the ones giving the rewards and pats," said Smeele.
"I'm going to be around all the time, whereas the caregivers are on certain days throughout the week.”
When Vette wasn’t around, other members of his team visited Smeele so the training was constant.
Describing the joy Jett brings to him, Smeele said: "It's hard to describe, it really is. I look forward to when I wake up in the morning, he comes in and I see the excited look on his face. His tail's wagging... just that love, that bond and connection that you have with pets.
"He looks at me with those blue eyes and it just melts me."
As well as being Smeele's best mate, the goal is to put Jett's intelligence to good use — and that's new training territory for everyone.
“Brad is quite creative, so between us all, we've got the wherewithal to probably do something quite special," said Vette.
"You know, we've taught dogs to fly planes and drive cars, which involves technology. So watch this space and see what we're going to create with this little guy and make something really special out of this relationship," he said.
It's a relationship that's already pretty special and only just getting started.
“I’m looking forward to the adventures that Jett and I are going to have," said Smeele.
"I got a new off-road chair recently so we can go for cruises along the beach, to Riverhead Forest nearby and go on little missions with him.
"I'm just looking forward to the life that we're going to build, moving forward."
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