Many of you are familiar with my dog Colt from a previous post a while back about him catching a burglar. Today that German Shepard mix upped his game to the max.
An 86 year-old widow lady, a friend of ours, lives alone in a house around the corner. Every morning as I walk Colt, I pick up her newspaper from the front yard and place it on her porch. This morning I saw that she hadn't taken in the paper for the past three days. A UPS package on the porch had been there for two days and there was mail piling up in her mailbox.
When I was ready to go, Colt refused to leave and wouldn't let me off the porch. He pushed me back to the door with his nose. He was upset, doing a low whine and pawing my foot which is his signal that something is amiss. I rang the bell, knocked and called out her name but there was no response. I called her on my cell but she didn't answer.
We were only two blocks from the police station so we walked over. I asked them to do a welfare check. After we got home, an officer, who was at her house, called and wanted to know everything I knew about the lady. I mentioned that she had a son but didn't know where he lived. My wife has known the lady since the 1960's so the officer spoke with her at length.
At 1 o'clock this afternoon the officer called again. He said they located her son and had him come over with a key. When they entered the house they found her on the floor. She was transported to the hospital.
At 4 o'clock her son came to my house. He wanted to personally thank me for caring about his mom. He said that it appears she tripped on a throw run in the living room and fell, hitting her head on the coffee table. She has a concussion, a gash on her head and a broken hip as well as being very dehydrated. The doctors said she should make a full recovery but it will take time. She will have hip surgery when she is stable.
I told her son, "Don't thank me, thank my dog Colt. If not for him I might have rationalized that she was out of town or visiting family somewhere."
The widow lady likes Colt and he likes her. When it's cooler and we walk in the evening, she is sometimes sitting on the porch swing. Colt will go up and get a pat and a "Good dog." Sometimes she will give him a treat.
I'm so thankful that she will be OK but I can't imagine laying on the floor unable to move and in pain for three days. I'm also thankful that Colt sensed the urgency and made me aware. Good Boy!
An 86 year-old widow lady, a friend of ours, lives alone in a house around the corner. Every morning as I walk Colt, I pick up her newspaper from the front yard and place it on her porch. This morning I saw that she hadn't taken in the paper for the past three days. A UPS package on the porch had been there for two days and there was mail piling up in her mailbox.
When I was ready to go, Colt refused to leave and wouldn't let me off the porch. He pushed me back to the door with his nose. He was upset, doing a low whine and pawing my foot which is his signal that something is amiss. I rang the bell, knocked and called out her name but there was no response. I called her on my cell but she didn't answer.
We were only two blocks from the police station so we walked over. I asked them to do a welfare check. After we got home, an officer, who was at her house, called and wanted to know everything I knew about the lady. I mentioned that she had a son but didn't know where he lived. My wife has known the lady since the 1960's so the officer spoke with her at length.
At 1 o'clock this afternoon the officer called again. He said they located her son and had him come over with a key. When they entered the house they found her on the floor. She was transported to the hospital.
At 4 o'clock her son came to my house. He wanted to personally thank me for caring about his mom. He said that it appears she tripped on a throw run in the living room and fell, hitting her head on the coffee table. She has a concussion, a gash on her head and a broken hip as well as being very dehydrated. The doctors said she should make a full recovery but it will take time. She will have hip surgery when she is stable.
I told her son, "Don't thank me, thank my dog Colt. If not for him I might have rationalized that she was out of town or visiting family somewhere."
The widow lady likes Colt and he likes her. When it's cooler and we walk in the evening, she is sometimes sitting on the porch swing. Colt will go up and get a pat and a "Good dog." Sometimes she will give him a treat.
I'm so thankful that she will be OK but I can't imagine laying on the floor unable to move and in pain for three days. I'm also thankful that Colt sensed the urgency and made me aware. Good Boy!
