A BLACK Labrador called Marly is going to be a medical detection dog thanks to the support from Marlborough golf club.

They raised £4,500 over the year for the Medical Detection Dogs charity. Former club and lady captains Peter and Elaine Emery picked the charity.

Richard Pickles, Members Chairman of Marlborough golf club said: “The new captains nominate a charity for the year so Peter and Elaine chose this charity. We get to name it and adopt it. “

For the first time in over 130 years Peter was club captain with his wife Elaine being lady captain.

Peter Emery said: “We called him Marly after Marlborough golf club. We raised so much which qualified us to sponsor and name a dog which we got back in May. I think it covered both bases because it was a cancer and dog charity.

“We read an article about a medical detection dog because we have a dog it hit a chord. We have a close friend with breast cancer and her own dog detected it on her, that’s how smart they’re. If a dog behaves unusually they are usually trying to tell you something.

The charity has now placed 85 accredited medical alert assistance dogs across the country

“The dogs can help with diabetes and cancer as they smell the change in the body. They can be more accurate than human laboratories so hopefully it will become mainstream identification in the NHS. Rather than go through invasive surgery they could have this done as a diagnosis.

“He is settling in very well with his new family and has started his early socialising training, the first step towards becoming an accredited medical assistance dog.”