A golden retriever named Klara-Belle is working through a demanding training programme that, if completed successfully, will give a Cape Town woman who survived cardiac arrest a new layer of practical support in daily life. Honey’s Garden: Medical Alert Dogs SA, led by founding director Lucy Breytenbach, runs the project. Progress is measured not in promises but in tasks: scent recognition, episode response, item retrieval and, eventually, public-access certification.
The handler at the centre of the programme is Chanélle Badenhorst, a wife, mother of two and Mrs South Africa 2026 finalist. After a sudden cardiac arrest, she now lives with a pacemaker and ongoing heart-rhythm challenges. Episodes of syncope, which can cause a person to lose consciousness, affect how safe she feels doing everyday activities. Her goal is concrete: to keep travelling, exercising, working and spending time with her children without uncertainty dictating every decision. “I don’t want my heart condition to make my world smaller,” she says.
Breytenbach is guiding Klara-Belle through the skills required of a cardiac support dog. She has known Chanélle for years, having previously helped with her dogs through her pet behaviour company, Just Dogs. The training goes well beyond basic obedience. Klara-Belle is learning to recognise changes in Chanélle’s body scent that may accompany physiological changes, to assist during an episode, to guide her handler towards a safer place, and to retrieve useful items such as a cell phone or medication bag.
The timeline remains open. Klara-Belle still needs to complete further assessments and meet public-access requirements. Her ability to respond reliably and work calmly in different public environments will need further refinement before she can be considered fully qualified. Even then, the work does not stop: handlers are responsible for maintaining the dog’s skills and completing annual recertification, an ongoing operational commitment that sits with the handler long after formal training ends.
Breytenbach draws a clear distinction between the categories of support animals. Medical assistance dogs differ from therapy dogs and emotional-support animals in that they are trained to perform tasks that help mitigate a handler’s disability or medical condition, and their preparation is designed to allow them to accompany their handler in public. Selecting a suitable dog is a critical first stage of delivery. Confidence and sociability are essential, as is the ability to remain focused around people and other distractions.
Access on the ground remains one of the programme’s practical bottlenecks. Because a person’s medical condition may not be visible, a working dog can easily be mistaken for a pet. Breytenbach notes that businesses sometimes need more information about the role of assistance dogs and how to accommodate their handlers, a gap that affects whether a qualified dog can actually function in public spaces as intended.
Meanwhile, Chanélle is using her Mrs South Africa platform to speak openly about heart health and life after a medical emergency, and Klara-Belle’s training has created another opportunity to help people understand the forms of support available to those living with medical conditions. Her background spans communications, psychology and a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology, but she says experiencing a cardiac emergency taught her lessons about resilience that academic knowledge alone could not provide. Her faith and family have carried her through difficult periods, and sharing her experience has given her a way to help others.
For now, Klara-Belle remains a much-loved member of the family while she learns her future role. If her training progresses as hoped, she could provide Chanélle with an additional source of support and reassurance. The pair are learning together, one task and one milestone at a time. Dotsure, a sponsor of the Mrs South Africa 2026 pageant and provider of pet insurance, shares Chanélle’s story. Dotsure Limited (Registration number 2006/000723/06) is a licensed non-life insurer and authorised financial services provider (FSP39925), voted South Africa’s Best Pet Insurance 2023-2026 by readers of The Star, Die Burger, Beeld, City Press and Rekord.