A family whose lives have been transformed by a diabetic alert dog want to help give another hound the same skills.

Phoebe Denton-Parrack, 8, from Faversham, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was three.

For two and a half years her parents Nina Denton, 46, and Graham Parrack, 46, woke up every two hours during the night to check her blood sugar levels, knowing if they went too low or high her life could have been at risk.

But shortly after they got Teddy, a three-month-old Labrador puppy, they heard about diabetic alert dogs.

These incredible pets are trained to detect by smell when their owners' glucose levels are unsafe, and bark or whine to raise the alert.

Teddy became one of the first dogs to be trained by Hypo Hounds, a charity based in Tenterden.

He and Phoebe, who is sensitive to insulin, making her levels rise and drop very fast and therefore particularly hard to control, now go nearly everywhere together.

"At night, we would usually set alarms at 2am, 4am, 6am, having checked her at 10pm and midnight before going to bed," Nina said.

"If she was low, we would have to stay awake to test her 15 minutes later. If she was high, we would have to set another alarm to test her again in an hour.

"We were absolutely exhausted."

Now, Teddy wakes up if he detects Phoebe's glucose levels are out of range and then gets her parents up too.

His dedication to Phoebe, a pupil at Ethelbert Road Primary, was critical when her parents took her ice skating for the first time.

"We did all the normal checks and then she went on the ice. She loved it, but it was so cold," Nina continued.

"Things that affect Type 1 diabetes are stress, excitement, weather, food and exercise - so basically everything a child does. She just plummeted."

After Teddy began whining loudly, Nina and Graham got her off the ice, and found that her levels were so low she needed six glucotabs and a can of coke, rather than the usual three glucotabs.

"She could have had to go to hospital had he not been there.

"He gives her freedom to be like any other child, as much as she can be. Although we've still got to check her, it gives her freedom to play.

"Before, I would constantly be saying Phoebe, what are your levels, Phoebe, what are your levels, to make sure she was safe."

The ever-faithful Teddy will stop playing with other dogs if he senses a problem, and also knows to whine in quiet places and bark when it is noisy.

Phoebe's family now want to raise £8,000 for Hypo Hounds, which has trained 26 dogs since starting in 2016, so another child can be helped in the same way.

"She absolutely adores him and he adores her," Nina continued.

"[Having a diabetic dog] is getting more common but it's all done through charities.

"Hypo Hounds doesn't get any government funding at all. It relies on public donations. It's all down to how much funding they get, how many dogs they can have.

"That's why we are trying to raise money. Teddy's training was funded by another family so we are trying to raise money for the next diabetic alert dog.

"For us, it has meant that we can carry on our lives as normally as we can, having a child with diabetes. It's hard work, it's constant, but with Teddy, although you can never switch off, you can switch off a bit more."

Help Phoebe's family raise money to train another diabetic alert dog at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/teddythediabeticalertdog.

For more information about Hypo Hounds, go to www.hypohounds.co.uk.