Great dogs!

    • Gold Top Dog

    Great dogs!

    I found these two articles online about dogs saving people's lives. It's good to hear positive dog stories for a change instead of all of the negative ones that are out there!
     
    [link>http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13907858/#storyContinued]http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13907858/#storyContinued[/link]
    [linkhttp://msnbc.msn.com/id/13439261/]http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13439261/[/link]
    • Silver
    What great stories.
     
    It's great the dog stayed with the toddler to make sure he was ok and alerted the neighbours. I was horrified at the parents though, having a broken window on a two story building. Any normal parent would get it fixed straight away, especially with a young child in the house. As for the father saying "I didn't think he could get out through it" what can I say, A broken window the child could have even cut himself badly on it.
     
     
     
     
    • Gold Top Dog

    lokis_mom, here's one you might be interested in.  The family is on the Elkhound list I'm on.
     
    New dog quickly becomes family's best friend
    Hero elkhound's howls alert owners to house fire
    Monday, March 06, 2006
    BY JULIA M. SCOTT
    Star-Ledger Staff
    A South Brunswick family escaped their burning home
    yesterday thanks to their new dog that woke them up by
    barking "like crazy," police said.
    The howls of the Norwegian elkhound, a hunting dog that the family had adopted just two weeks ago, stirred John Cramer at about 6:30 a.m., said police Detective Jim Ryan.
    Cramer, 54, went downstairs to calm the pooch, a young male named Toby, who was in a crate on the first floor, Ryan said. Cramer saw the fire creeping up the walls from the basement and the flames were a few feet from Toby.
    "He heard the dog barking like crazy," Ryan said. "He discovered the fire had already spread to the first floor."
    Elkhounds are loyal dogs known for alarm barking, according
    to Sally Spear, president of the Garden State Norwegian Elkhound Club. They have a bushy gray-and-white coat and a bear-like face.
    "They will bark when something is not right so they were
    just following their instincts," said Spear, who said she
    knows the Cramers because the wife is active in the club.
    John Cramer opened Toby's crate and ran upstairs to rouse
    his wife, Cheryl, 44, and their 9-year-old daughter, Lee,
    who were still sleeping. A second elkhound, a champion
    named Casey, also was asleep upstairs.
    As the smoke thickened, the family and the dogs made it to safety. Three cats were not so lucky and died in the fire on Old New Road, Ryan said.
    The Cramer family was taken to Robert Wood Johnson
    University Hospital in New Brunswick, treated for smoke inhalation and released within hours, Ryan said. The elkhounds are being kept in a nearby kennel.
    The fire started in the basement near an electrical outlet
    and investigators are trying to determine if a faulty
    circuit sparked the flames, Ryan said. The preliminary assessment of the fire is that it was accidental.
    It had been burning for 30 minutes before the dog woke the Cramers, Ryan said. Firefighters arrived at 6:39 a.m. and had the blaze under control in 25 minutes. The outside of the house does not appear badly damaged, Ryan said. But the walls are badly charred on the first floor and basement and the second floor is soggy and smells of smoke. "As far as living in it, I don't think that's going to be possible," Ryan said. Investigators are determining whether the house will have to be demolished.
    • Gold Top Dog
    It's great to see positive stories about our friends.  It just further proves to me how special they are.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Micksmom, my grandma cut that story out of her paper in San Diego and sent it to me. The story you posted has more details though. I thought it was great!! Especially since we adopted Odin 2 days before that happened and it was an adopted dog that saved the family. [:)] Dogs really are "man's best friend" and I think it's so neat to hear stories about the wonderful things they do for us.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Yay for the elkhounds! [:D]

    I think dogs do things every day to save people, it just isn't always noticed.