Dogs are truly amazing creatures. From welcoming you with a wagging tail even when you were away for only 10 minutes, to being the support pillar you need when sick or feeling low, your dog does all sorts of heart-touching and funny things that never fail to melt your heart.
But sometimes, when the situation demands, our goofy and playful furry friends go way beyond licking our faces and running around in enthusiasm and become “life saviors”.
Here are 15 such dogs, who went out of their way and emerged as true HEROES!
1. TRUE, the blind, deaf, three-legged dog who saved his owners from a fire.
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| via kfor.com |
Katie Crosley
was woken up by her dog, True, yapping way at her bedside in the middle of the
night. She opened her bedroom door to a wall of flames. She grabbed her infant
child and was navigated out of the burning home by True. The entire family was
saved by a blind, deaf, three-legged dog.
2. LOUIE, who pushed a panic button for his disabled owner.
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| via express.co.uk |
Judith Shaw, a patient of glaucoma blacked out
after suffering excruciating pains in her chest and back. She woke up to find
her dog, Louie calling for assistance. Louie had pressed the panic button and
was yelping into the intercom. Judith trained Louie to use the button, which
provides a hotline to care services, so help was on its way.
3. BUSTER,
who saved his owner with Crohn’s disease.
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| Facebook: My-Hero-Dog-Buster |
Michael, who
suffers from Crohn’s disease, was unable to climb the stairs to his bedroom, so
he slept on the downstairs couch. Michael’s wife, Barbara, was asleep upstairs
when their usually quiet dog, Buster, suddenly began barking in the direction
of the bedroom door, prompting Barbara to check on her husband. Barbara found
Michael unconscious on the floor and in critical condition. He was rushed to
the hospital where he revived.
4. The stray dog who kept a lost boy warm in 14-degree weather.
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| via gettyimages.com |
While trying
to rescue a stray dog in a nine-foot deep roadside service bank in Siberia, a
7-year old boy accidentally slipped in himself. No one could find the missing
boy until more than 72 hours later when road workers heard the exhausted barks
of a dog from the pit. The dog had wrapped itself around the boy and prevented
him from getting hypothermia in such low temperature condition.
5. ZANJEER, the bomb detector
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Zanjeer (aka
Ginger) joined the Mumbai Police Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad on 29
December 1992. During the time of the 1993 Mumbai bombings in March,
Zanjeer helped to avert at least three more in parts of Mumbai and alerted his
handlers to a scooter bomb that contained RDX explosives and gelatin
sticks, three Type 56 rifles, five 9-mm pistols, and 200 grenades and
two suitcases at that contained nine Type 56 rifles. Apart from his
contributions during the 1993 attacks, Zanjeer helped to recover 11 military
bombs, 57 country-made bombs, 175 petrol bombs, and 600 detonators.
6. NIKKI, who can smell changes in her owner’s blood to alert her before she has a seizure.
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| via standard.net |
Sandra
Leavitt, has a rare seizure disorder that is triggered by stress. Her
dog, Nikki is trained to be able to smell changes in Sandra’s blood leading up
to a seizure. Nikki can give Sandra up to two hours of warning before Sandra
has an episode. Sandra also has a special phone designed to enable Nikki to
dial 911 should anything happen.
7. EDWARD, who helps his owner with her rare skin disease that can cause her throat to close up.
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| Facebook: caninepartners |
Wendy Hilling
has the condition epidermolysis bullosa recessive dystrophic that
causes her skin to tear and blister at the slightest scratch. The lining of her
windpipe can also blister and close at any time. Her dog, Edward, wakes Wendy’s
husband if Wendy stops breathing. Edward can also load the washing machine, get
cash from a cash machine, and pick up anything she drops.
8. YOGI, who saved his owner’s life after a bike accident
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| via dogguide.net |
Paul Horton
of Austin, Texas, went over the handlebars on his mountain bike and landed on
his head. When he regained consciousness, he found Yogi by his side. Horton
whispered for Yogi to get help. Reluctant to leave, the dog finally went to the
main road and barked at neighbors who were walking by. Bruce and Maggie
Tate know Yogi and had never seen him act so frantic, so they followed him back
to the place where Horton lay still. Doctors found that Horton's vertebrae had
pinched his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Yogi was
named the “2011 Valor Dog of the Year” for saving Horton's life.
9. BRUTIS, who saved a young child from a coral
snake
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| via dogguide.net |
Brutis was a
7 year old golden
retriever when he became a hero in 2004. The loveable pooch snatched up a
coral snake as it was slithering dangerously close to a young child, suffering
a near-deadly bite from the snake in the process.
"When we give an award like this, we're
looking for something extra, something that would make people wonder why a dog
would do what he did", said the committee who awarded the medal.
10. SHANA, who rescued a couple from a snow storm
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| via dogguide.net |
Shana, a half wolf dog/half German shepard saved
an elderly couple from a treacherous snow storm. When Shana found Norman and
Eve trapped by snow, she went to work, diligently digging out a tunnel through
which she would pull the couple back to the safety of their home.
11. MOTI, who took a bullet for his family
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| via dogguide.n |
Moti, the
five year old German Shepherd literally “took a bullet” for his human family.
When a masked intruder made his way into the Patel household, Moti wasted
little time, leaping to his feet and barking to draw the gunman's attention.
Faced with the furious dog, the gunman shot him and ran off without harming any
of the Patels. Luckily, Moti has made full recovery.
12. HERO, who saved a paralyzed man
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| via dogguide.net |
A four year
old Golden Retriever was credited with saving a paralyzed man who got his
wheelchair stuck in the middle of a muddy field. When Gareth Jones found
himself unable to move, the former soldier's service dog was ready to answer
the call, dutifully pulling the rope Jones threw to him until the wheelchair
was pulled free.
13. SHELBY,
who saved the family from carbon dioxide poisoning
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| via dogguide.net |
Shelby earned
the title of a Hero by saving two adults
and two children from carbon monoxide poisoning. The dog was the first to
detect the rising C0 levels while the rest of the family was asleep, nudging
each of them out of their sleep and refused to stop barking, scratching, and
whining until the family was safely outside. Luckily, each family member was
treated at a nearby hospital and made a full recovery.
14. BELLE, who dialed 911 to save her owner
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| via dogguide.net |
Belle, a
beagle literally bit "911" into Kevin Weaver's cell phone after the
diabetic man collapsed from a seizure. Evidently, the dog had been trained to
bite down on the phone's keypad in the event of an emergency!
15. TOBY, who performed the Heimlich maneuver on his owner
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| via buzzfeed.com |
Toby, a
golden retriever heroically saved owner Debbie Parkhurst from choking to death
on an apple in her Maryland home. When it became apparent that she was choking,
Toby leapt hard onto her chest and forced the lodged morsel to come loose from
her throat and meanwhile kept licking his owner’s face to prevent her from
passing out.
