Comments on: The Quick 10: Dr. Fido – 10 Ways Dogs Help in the Medical Community

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:41:30 +0000

In my family we have a superstition that a dog can save you from imminent death. We usually lose a dog right before someone in the family gets a potentially fatal sickness. The dog will not be found, but the sick person recovers. I had a godfather who owned a German shepherd. It went missing right before my godfather got a heart attack. He eventually died during heart attack number 2. Sort of makes me wonder if he would have lived longer if he took in another dog after Bingo.

By: Pearl

Pearl — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:18:29 +0000

I’m going to be the other oddball that brings up cats during a dog story.

I also suffer from depression. It’s a nasty, nasty disease. I was having a particularly rough day, and my cat jumped into my lap and gave me a kiss on the nose. He is not a lap cat by any means; he’s very independent. I started to think from that moment on that God must work through these animals sometimes. He didn’t pull me from a fire or alert me to any life threating goings-on, but he gave me the spark I needed to pull through that episode.

By: T

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:51:55 +0000

#8 seems to be confusing hearing impaired people and blind people. Someone hearing impaired would be able to see traffic ahead.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:18:51 +0000

Growing up we had a German Sheppard/Husky mix, that was OVERLY protective of me and my siblings. She was purchased as a guard dog (we had a robbery) but my parents were concerned about such a (eventually) large dog with 3 small kids. So, the breeder told us to give her a little test. Take her home and feed her, while she is eating have each of the kids try to take food from the bowl. If the dog so much as growls bring her back. When we did it we were each able to take food from the bowl with no problem. When Dad reached into the bowl, Roxy almost took his hand off. Dad realized that this dog would be perfect. She’s been gone for 15 years and I still miss her.

I later learned that Sheppards have an instict to protect children of the family. I’m getting one as soon as I have kids.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:36:16 +0000

While not exactly helpful, my parents had a dog early in their marriage who, despite their best efforts, continued to escape their yard. They eventually bought a stake and had a fence installed. One day they watched as she dug up the stake, climbed the fence (yes, climbed–not jumped), then ran down the street dragging leash and stake behind her.

reCAPTCHA: Blazed twice. Nice!

By: Bubba

Bubba — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:42:11 +0000

The comments are as nice as the stories.
Thanks, everyone.
However, the reCAPTCHA is: “America piggier” and that was just too insane to pass up.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:25:01 +0000

Our beloved furbaby was a total Mommy’s dog for the first seven years. Then, my husband came down with an unexplained illness that had him dizzy, nauseous, and hard of hearing. Our dog Chubby stayed by the couch with Daddy night and day, and would come get me from wherever I was in the house if Hubby needed something. Although the first two symptoms eventually stopped, the hearing loss was permanent. Until the dog’s last days, if someone came to the door, or a phone rang, he would run to hubby, look at him or even put his paws on hubbys legs, then run to the door or ringing phone. He’d repeat this until Hubby went to the door or phone. He never had any training for this, but just knew that Daddy needed his help. Man, I miss my dog.

By: J.A

J.A — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:06:37 +0000

We have a K9 dog that specializes in Bombs and tracking. Its always fun to see what he is capable of from tracking people to locating 14 different explosives. Its really fun living with a K9, especially when you cuddle with him at home and then you see him at work tracking people down and sometimes even doing attack work. Its quite the experience.

By: Elizabeth Munroz

Elizabeth Munroz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:10:46 +0000

I know this is about dogs, but I’ll venture in and mention my cat who used to poke me in the face until I woke up whenever I had sleep apnea. She also kept pouncing on me one night until I got up to put her into another room and discovered the electrical wire of my living room lamp that was smoking. She never once alerted me to earthquakes, though, and calmly lived through them without blinking an eye.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:02:46 +0000

Your dog is adorable. I too have a dappled doxie, albeit a smooth coat, and not odd-eyed. My female is a long haired. Mine too are beyond all hope of them being trained for something excellent, I’m still working on potty manners. My Elkie on the other hand is a very good judge of character. She does a great job of alerting us of anyone that could potentially be a hazard to us, especially random strangers knocking on the door. She’s also very compassionate, if she accidentally hurts one of us and we make a ‘painful’ sound, she’ll lick and nuzzle whatever body part she injured (foot, face, arms). I’ve never had a dog that did that.