“You find that these dogs have separation anxiety," explains Katie Burns, the Support Dogs trainer who taught Eddie, "when their owner leaves they need to fulfil themselves by doing something like chewing the furniture.”

Sheffield Support Dogs is the only charity in the UK to train seizure alert dogs. Each one costs £10'000 to train, which is raised entirely through donations.

Unlike hearing dogs for the deaf and guide dogs for the blind, seizure alert dogs' function is not just to assist, it is to predict.

People who suffer from severe forms of epilepsy can endure seizures which leave them convulsing on the floor or absences during which they lose consciousness and can burn themselves or fall over.

For Andrew this has meant that he has not spent any time alone with his daughter, never taken her to the park nor had the opportunity to bond with her.

Eddie’s role will be to prompt Andrew when he is about to have a seizure so that he can get somewhere safe or at least sit down so that he does not fall and hurt himself or his daughter.

It is not know how dogs like Eddie can sense that a seizure is about to occur though there are three main theories; firstly there may be micro expressions that the dog can pick up which precede a seizure, there may be a particular scent generated which the dog is sensitive to and finally it may be that the dog can sense disturbances in the electric field which are caused by a seizure.

For Toni Brown-Griffin it doesn’t matter how her seizure alert dog A-Jay senses her seizures, it just matters that he does.

“He’s a hundred percent accurate," she said. "He doesn’t miss seizures and that’s given me a lot of confidence.”

A-Jay is her second seizure alert dog and since having him Mrs Brown-Griffin’s seizures have reduced in frequency due to her being more relaxed with the dog to support her, whilst the effects of the seizures when they do come are greatly mitigated by the forewarning A-Jay provides.

“He licks my left hand obsessively fifty minutes before a major seizure and for a minor seizure he gives me fifteen minutes warning, licking my left hand three times before pawing at me.”

This gives Mrs Brown-Griffin time to get to a place of safety if it’s a major seizure and to sit down and let a minor one pass.

Andrew is hoping that Eddie will provide the same change in his life that A-Jay has to Mrs Brown-Griffin's.

“In my 20s I was always quite independent and I feel like some of that has been taken away on becoming a father," Andrew said. "Hopefully Eddie will help me to regain some of that independence.”

:: To find out more and to support Seizure Alert Dogs, visit www.support-dogs.org.uk or www.justgiving.com/SueJulieLandsEndJohnoGroats.