March 18th, 2013 by Editor

From the Arizona Republic:

March 5th, 2013 by Editor

From WABC-TV in New York:

A pit bull came to the rescue of a woman with Alzheimer’s who had gotten lost and fell down in the snow.

“So we were standing about here when I heard the sticks cracking,” said Cara Jones, dog owner.

It was late and dark and Cara Jones couldn’t figure out why her 2-year-old pit bull named “Creature” kept leading her into the brush Thursday night.

“She looked back at me and then barked, and there I saw a figure laying,” Jones said, “She was trying to get up and the sticks kept breaking on her, so she would fall back down.”

Shivering on the wet, cold ground was 89-year-old Carmen Mitchell who suffers from Alzheimer’s.

Mitchell had wandered away from her caretaker and somehow made it into the woods about a mile away.

She was lost for several hours.

…Rochelle Wason says she immediately called police and they responded in full-force with boots on the ground, K-9 units, and even a helicopter in the sky.

But still, they couldn’t find Carmen Mitchell.

“All the searchers were out there, all the volunteers were out there, everyone was putting in their effort here,” said Chief Richard Ivone, Piscataway Police Department

But ultimately, it was a spunky house pet who found the 89-year-old.

…Because of her Alzheimer’s, Luke Stapleton says his mother-in-law, who was treated for hypothermia, has no memory of what happened.

Stapleton says he’s grateful for Creature and says pit bulls get a bad rap.

“I know now that pit bulls are not just as they are described by other people,” Stapleton said.

“I had a lot of people looking down on me for having a pit bull, and I’m glad that I have her,” Jones said.

Yet another bulldog hero.

March 5th, 2013 by Editor

From the Maine Morning Sentinel:

A woman accused of trying to strangle her 79-year-old mother with a rope this week has a history of mental health problems, illegal gun possession and violent behavior.

Fairfield police arrested Bonny Lou Buzzell, 48, and charged her with aggravated assault and assault Monday. She is in Somerset County Jail.

Buzzell’s mother, Viola Hutchins, 79, of Hutchins Road, said her life was saved when her pit bull, Kaiser, fended off the alleged attack, which police said involved a rope noose.

…Hutchins said she was too upset to talk about the details of the incident, but she credits Kaiser, a dog which she nursed back to health from near-starvation when she took it in, with saving her life.

Another bulldog hero.

March 1st, 2013 by Editor

From the UPI:

A South Dakota toddler who went missing from his back yard was found safe, police said, adding he was protected by his pet pit bull.

The boy, 3, and his dog went missing Monday from his yard in Custer, the Rapid City Journal reported.

His mother told police that while she was watching her son, she turned around to do something and in a very short time the boy and the dog were gone, Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler said.

When police arrived, they tracked footprints made by the boy’s boots in the snow and found him and the dog in the woods about a quarter-mile away from home, Wheeler said, adding he couldn’t go near the boy because the dog would not allow it.

It makes sense that the dog wouldn’t let the officer approach the boy.  According to the article, the dog wasn’t aggressive, just wary.  From the dog’s perspective, he didn’t know if the officer was there to help the boy or hurt him, which makes sense. All the dog instinctually knew was that he had to protect the boy because the boy was in trouble, being away from his home in cold and harsh conditions.

The article continued,

Wheeler said it wasn’t clear if the dog was following the boy or the boy was following the dog: “I think it was a joint venture.”

It’s most likely that the dog was following the child. That’s what bulldog breeds do; they protect and look after children.  That’s why they have been called the “Nanny Dog” for over 100 years.  And I guess that’s why they call toddlers toddlers.  They toddle…sometimes away.

Good dog!  I hope he got an extra treat when he got home.