WONDER DOGS
First published as Dog Heroes in 2009
This revised edition copyright Summersdale Publishers Ltd, 2017
Additional text by Mandy Woods
All rights reserved.
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Disclaimer
All stories not directly contributed have been researched from sources in the public domain. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information and any quoted matter in these stories is correct. Should there be any omissions or errors in this respect we apologise and shall be pleased to make the appropriate amendments in any future edition.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
For many of us, our dogs are our best friends, helping us through the hard times ('grief busters', as one bereaved woman described them), loving us unconditionally and willing to put their own lives on the line to protect us. Whether they are expensive pedigree dogs, they have been trained to carry out dangerous duties in a war zone, or they have been rescued from a miserable life on the streets, the bond that they have with their humans can be touchingly strong and characterised by a deep devotion and steadfast loyalty.
The true stories in this book, drawn from a wide variety of different situations all around the world, all reflect these qualities in one way or another and clearly show the intelligence, compassion and selflessness inherent in dogs. The courageous canines featured here show their true colours through acts such as leaping into dangerous waters to rescue someone who is drowning, by knowing instinctively that there is a fellow creature in peril and getting help, by risking their life to lead firefighters through a burning building to their trapped loved ones and through countless other heroic deeds done not for glory or gain, but simply because they are Wonder Dogs!
CHAPTER 1
TAKING THE PLUNGE
Some breeds of dog, such as Labradors and golden retrievers, are natural-born swimmers, while others such as bulldogs, boxers, greyhounds and Dobermann pinschers are distinctly not!
As the selection of stories in this section on water rescues shows, however, it's not its degree of affinity for water that determines whether a dog will risk its life to save a drowning person or even drowning animals it's the instinctive drive that many dogs seem to possess to help other creatures in distress.
Although many of the stories here feature Labradors, retrievers and other breeds that are comfortable in water, others are about loyal pets of indiscriminate breed who are determined, whatever the cost to themselves, to save their owners from danger.
WHIZZ
Measuring more than six feet tall when standing on his hind legs, Whizz the heroic Newfoundland left giant shoes to fill when he passed away in 2016 after a lifetime spent working in water rescue, as well as enriching the lives of sick children and adults
After a frantic but fruitless search of the area after one of her red setters, Topper, went missing on a walk, Charlotte Burroughs was lucky enough to bump into David Pugh and his Newfoundland, Whizz. When she asked David if he'd seen Topper along the way, Whizz took off without hesitation for the local water treatment plant, where Topper was floundering around in the water, unable to get out and in grave danger of drowning. Whizz dragged him out, to Charlotte's eternal gratitude.
But this was by no means Whizz's first rescue. Over the course of a decade, the 12-stone hero a true gentle giant had rescued nine people from drowning as he patrolled the Bristol Channel and the River Severn with the Royal Navy Rescue, the Severn Area Rescue Association and Marine Volunteer Service. Among those he saved were two small girls who got into trouble in their inflatable dinghy on the Welsh coast and a woman who suffered an asthma attack whilst swimming in the Bristol Channel. He also worked as a therapy dog, visiting the sick and elderly as well as injured servicemen and women.
Whizz was awarded the PDSA Order of Merit the animal equivalent of an OBE for outstanding devotion to duty in March 2016.
Sadly he passed away at the age of 12 just before receiving the award, which was presented posthumously, and received on his behalf by Whizz's cousin Tizz and owner David Pugh, who said:
I am bursting with pride for Whizz. He was a dog in a million and I am truly heartbroken that he isn't here to receive his medal. Whizz loved working and had an extraordinary talent. Not only was he strong and gentle, he was also so emotionally intuitive. This made him the perfect rescue and therapy dog and a beloved companion to the hundreds of sick children and adults he met along the way.
BEAR
A little boy is found floating in the swimming pool, seemingly lifeless but thanks to the family's pet dog, all is not lost...
When 14-month-old Stanley vanished from his mother Patricia's sight in the back garden of their Michigan, USA house in June 2012, her worst fears were realised when she found him floating in the family pool face-up and still.
'It was scary,' Patricia said later. 'His lips were blue. His eyes were rolled back. It was the scariest feeling and the image stays in your head for a long time.'
But as she rushed over to the pool, she saw that the family's black Labrador, Bear, was standing beneath her son and propping him up in an attempt to keep his head out of the water.
'[Bear] wouldn't move in the pool. He didn't bark. It was like he was afraid to move at all until I got Stanley up out of the pool and that's when [Bear] came up out of the pool with me.'
After pulling Stanley out of the water, his mother was unable to get any signal on her phone when she tried calling the emergency services, so she bundled her other children into the car and drove her unresponsive son to the hospital. On the way there, he regained consciousness, bringing up the water he had ingested, and by the time they arrived at the local fire department in Marcellus, Michigan, he was 'alert and in good condition'.
