Heroic hounds come to the rescue of Calgary man suffering seizure in Penbrooke home
By Michael Platt, Calgary Sun First posted: Monday, January 05, 2015 06:22 PM EST | Updated: Tuesday, January 06, 2015 10:30 AM EST
A shih tzu for brains, and a husky for brawn.
For 69-year-old Richard Harris, it was the winning canine combination that saved his life — and as the Calgarian recovers in hospital from a near-fatal diabetic seizure, his grateful family is hailing tiny Timmy and big Bella as their hairy heroes.
“I believe in my heart that my dad would not be here without those two dogs,” said Pauline Harris, Richard’s daughter.
Doctors seem to agree, after telling Richard the diabetic seizure he suffered the morning of Dec. 23 might have been deadly had helped not arrived immediately — and with only Richard and the dogs awake when he collapsed, it seemed his number was up.
“The doctor told my dad he came very close to meeting his god,” said Pauline.
But fate wasn’t counting on a pair of furry guardians, who weren’t about to let their human die alone in a living room doorway.
“We had no idea what they were capable of,” she said.
All Pauline knows is that she was rudely awoken by Timmy, a one-year-old shih tzu who’d previously shown a talent for being cute and playful, but not much more.
The little dog was in her bedroom, apparently pestering her to play or wake up — but Pauline, who’d only recently moved into the home shared by her dad, sister and uncle, just assumed this was typical Timmy, being a pest.
“He came up to my bed, and was crying in my face,” said Pauline, who estimates it was around 7 a.m. when Timmy entered her room.
“It was a different sort of cry — I guess he was trying to get me up — but I didn’t realize it then, and it was like, go away you crazy dog,”
Lesser shih tzus might have surrendered there, but bright little Timmy had a Plan B.
“He couldn’t get me up, so he went downstairs to get Big Mama,” said Pauline.
“Big Mama” as her family affectionately calls her, is two-year-old Bella, a striking husky with a case of heterochromia iridis — meaning her eyes are two different colours.
But Bella didn’t even pause to give the silly sleeping human a disappointed look for failing to understand this very serious situation — and with Timmy leading the way, Bella jumped on Pauline’s bed and forced her to get up. Literally.
“She jumped on the bed, and then pushed me from the back until I rolled out of bed,” said Pauline.
The husky wasn’t finished, and after leaping to the ground to join a very bemused Pauline, Bella helped the human to her feet.
“I fell out onto my hands and knees, and she got her whole head and body under me, and lifted me up,” said Pauline.
“Then they started pushing me.”
Humans may not be shih tzu sharp, but this wide-awake person sure got the message then.
“I was like ‘OK, wow — they’ve never acted like this before,’” said Pauline.
Following the canine rescue crew downstairs, she found her father unconscious on the floor.
“He was just laying there, and wasn’t responding,” said Pauline.
Paramedics were called to their Penbrooke home, and as the normally noisy dogs looked on in silence, an ambulance rushed Richard off to hospital, where he is now recovering.
It was bad blood sugar to blame, and it wasn’t until recent days that Richard has recovered enough to understand he owes the two dogs his life — and probably some pretty expensive raw hide treats to boot.
Pauline says the whole affair has left her family with a whole new respect for the two dogs who combined their minds and muscle to rouse a human who could call for help — and she swears the incident has left Timmy and Bella feeling a bit proud too.
“They seem to be walking around with their heads held high,” said Pauline.
michael.platt@sunmedia.ca
Heroic hounds come to the rescue of Calgary man suffering seizure in Penbrooke h
By Michael Platt, Calgary Sun First posted: Monday, January 05, 2015 06:22 PM EST | Updated: Tuesday, January 06, 2015 10:30 AM EST
A shih tzu for brains, and a husky for brawn.
For 69-year-old Richard Harris, it was the winning canine combination that saved his life — and as the Calgarian recovers in hospital from a near-fatal diabetic seizure, his grateful family is hailing tiny Timmy and big Bella as their hairy heroes.
“I believe in my heart that my dad would not be here without those two dogs,” said Pauline Harris, Richard’s daughter.
Doctors seem to agree, after telling Richard the diabetic seizure he suffered the morning of Dec. 23 might have been deadly had helped not arrived immediately — and with only Richard and the dogs awake when he collapsed, it seemed his number was up.
“The doctor told my dad he came very close to meeting his god,” said Pauline.
But fate wasn’t counting on a pair of furry guardians, who weren’t about to let their human die alone in a living room doorway.
“We had no idea what they were capable of,” she said.
All Pauline knows is that she was rudely awoken by Timmy, a one-year-old shih tzu who’d previously shown a talent for being cute and playful, but not much more.
The little dog was in her bedroom, apparently pestering her to play or wake up — but Pauline, who’d only recently moved into the home shared by her dad, sister and uncle, just assumed this was typical Timmy, being a pest.
“He came up to my bed, and was crying in my face,” said Pauline, who estimates it was around 7 a.m. when Timmy entered her room.
“It was a different sort of cry — I guess he was trying to get me up — but I didn’t realize it then, and it was like, go away you crazy dog,”
Lesser shih tzus might have surrendered there, but bright little Timmy had a Plan B.
“He couldn’t get me up, so he went downstairs to get Big Mama,” said Pauline.
“Big Mama” as her family affectionately calls her, is two-year-old Bella, a striking husky with a case of heterochromia iridis — meaning her eyes are two different colours.
But Bella didn’t even pause to give the silly sleeping human a disappointed look for failing to understand this very serious situation — and with Timmy leading the way, Bella jumped on Pauline’s bed and forced her to get up. Literally.
“She jumped on the bed, and then pushed me from the back until I rolled out of bed,” said Pauline.
The husky wasn’t finished, and after leaping to the ground to join a very bemused Pauline, Bella helped the human to her feet.
“I fell out onto my hands and knees, and she got her whole head and body under me, and lifted me up,” said Pauline.
“Then they started pushing me.”
Humans may not be shih tzu sharp, but this wide-awake person sure got the message then.
“I was like ‘OK, wow — they’ve never acted like this before,’” said Pauline.
Following the canine rescue crew downstairs, she found her father unconscious on the floor.
“He was just laying there, and wasn’t responding,” said Pauline.
Paramedics were called to their Penbrooke home, and as the normally noisy dogs looked on in silence, an ambulance rushed Richard off to hospital, where he is now recovering.
It was bad blood sugar to blame, and it wasn’t until recent days that Richard has recovered enough to understand he owes the two dogs his life — and probably some pretty expensive raw hide treats to boot.
Pauline says the whole affair has left her family with a whole new respect for the two dogs who combined their minds and muscle to rouse a human who could call for help — and she swears the incident has left Timmy and Bella feeling a bit proud too.
“They seem to be walking around with their heads held high,” said Pauline.
michael.platt@sunmedia.ca
Heroic hounds come to the rescue of Calgary man suffering seizure in Penbrooke h