1. The 911-Dialing Beagle – Belle (Orlando, Florida)

Belle, a beagle, was trained to call emergency medics by biting the speed dial on owner Kevin Weaver’s cell phone. One day, his blood sugar levels crashed, and he collapsed. His little dog hit the number 9 and summoned rescue workers, who saved his life. Although Belle kept her head in the emergency, she probably also used her nose to detect the drop in Weaver’s blood sugar, experts believe.

Belle may be the first dog to use a telephone to save her owner. But she was not the first pet to phone 911. According to news reports, a Tampa, Florida cat named Tipper hit the 911 sequence 10 years before, while choking on a flea collar. Tipper made pet history – by accident.

2. Barking His Way to Heroism – Duke (Edmond, Oklahoma)

So if cats are monopolizing the phone, a heroic dog still has some options. Barking a lot for a long time – very loudly – works just fine. A King Charles Cavalier Spaniel named Duke was credited with saving his human owner, Kathy Scherman, the old-fashioned way — by barking until someone paid attention. Scherman had been standing by the family swimming pool when she went into cardiac arrest and fell into the water. Duke stood by and barked until help arrived.

3. The Golden Who Pounced – Toby (Cecil County, Maryland)

It’s an open question whether a 2-year-old golden retriever could really know the Heimlich maneuver, but there’s no doubt that Toby saved owner Debby Parkhurst from choking. According to Emily Brand, of the ASPCA, Parkhurst was eating an apple when a piece caught in her throat. Alone in the house, except for her two dogs, Parkhurst tried to self-administer the Heimlich maneuver by beating herself on the abdomen, but it wasn’t working. Then Toby sprang into action. He pushed her down on the kitchen floor and jumped on her chest. The apple popped out. The ASPCA named Toby their 2007 Dog of the Year.

4. One Tough Golden – Sam (Deerfield, New Hampshire)

The night before Christmas Eve 2005, a call came into the police dispatch reporting a dog walking on the edge of the highway. Could it be the Golden Ghost? The Rockingham County Sheriff’s office recognized his description. He was unmistakable in the red harness he had been wearing the day he escaped in 2004. And their team belonged to the posse of volunteers, animal control officers and dog lovers who had been searching for Sam since he slipped away from owner Dennis Sklarski. But the dog had not been spotted for almost a month. Now, the fear was something had happened to Sam. His owners never gave up hope.

Peg and Dennis Sklarski had rescued Sam a couple of weeks before he ran away. The dog, who had been abused and kept in a cage, was unused to people and fearful. In interviews that Christmas Eve, Peg Sklarski said she was sure Sam was still out there. She believed he would be home someday. Events a few months later proved her correct.

Sam resisted capture for two years. He survived snowstorms and cold winter nights but was finally caught by a specially-designed net set up at a feeding station and reunited with his family.

5. A Real-Life Lassie – Sadie (Ashland, Wisconsin)

Melvin Reiten was cutting down damaged trees near his home when a treetop came down and pinned him on the ground. But his dog Sadie was by his side. When the accident happened, the shepherd/collie mix ran back to the house for Reiten’s wife, Annie. At first, her barks failed to win Annie’s attention. For two hours, Sadie alternated between Reiten and the house. She licked his face and warmed him with her body. Then she would rush back for Annie. Finally, Reiten’s wife realized something was wrong. She followed Sadie to the scene and discovered her husband trapped under the tree. Reiten was whisked by helicopter to a trauma center and survived.

6. The Reluctant Celebrity – Winnie, the Cat (New Castle, Indiana)

The Keesling family had a close call in March 2007 when a basement water pump malfunctioned and spewed carbon monoxide fumes into the home. Winnie, the cat, had been sleeping by an open window. The fresh air probably kept her alert enough to save the family, Kathy Keesling says.Keesling said her cat pounced into bed and awakened her by pulling her hair and meowing. Keesling started to get up, but collapsed.

“I felt like a ball bat hit me right across the head,” she said. Sick and dizzy, she fell back in bed and into a daze. But Winnie didn’t give up until Keesling made it to her feet. She realized she was the only conscious person in the house. When she tried to rouse her husband and failed, she called 911. Keesling wasn’t able to make it to the door for arriving rescue workers. She collapsed 20 feet away. Firefighters found the couple’s 14-year-old son unconscious on his bedroom floor.

“He was blue,” she said. “They thought he was dead.” All three were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Winnie, meanwhile, hid in a closet. She was afraid of the firemen, Keesling said. Later, the cat was afraid of the cameras and attention. But after a while, Winnie began to enjoy celebrity. “She likes it now,” Keesling said. “She poses.”

7. The Corgi Who Could – Margaret, Corgi (Yukon, Oklahoma)

A trip to Overhulser Lake in September 2006 to feed the ducks almost went terribly wrong for Julie Whittaker and her 2-year-old niece, Kayleigh. They were heading home, with dog Margaret in tow, when the 2-year-old ran down the boat ramp and slid into the water. Whittaker ran after the child and fought to keep them both from going under. As she started losing the battle, she called to her dog. The Corgi clamped down on the child’s tee-shirt and didn’t let go until she had pulled Kayleigh and Whittaker to dry ground.

“…And that may be the whole point about heroic animals. As amazing as their feats may seem, the most heroic thing animals do is cheering us through good days and bad days, and just being there when we come home.” - Dr. Stephen Zawistowski, animal behaviorist (NY ASPCA)

In the week following Sept. 11, 2001, Rachel McPherson went with her papillon Fidel to visit with thousands of New Yorkers who had been affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center.

During a crisis intervention program, Fidel walked up to one woman and put his paws on her knee.

She picked up the dog, crying, and asked, “How does this dog know that I am in such pain?”

It was stories like this that inspired McPherson to write Every Dog Has a Gift, out today. Through interviews with dog owners from around the country, and drawing from her experiences as founder and director of animal-assisted therapy program The Good Dog Foundation, McPherson writes of the many ways in which dogs can help humans.

“I think we need to rely more on animals and be much more aware of what’s going on around us,” McPherson said. “They’re always talking to us and sharing information.”

And helping — like in her story about an autistic boy that coped with his challenges through the help of a dog, and another about a homeless man that survived his struggles thanks to his loyal pooch.

McPherson, a former filmmaker, was working on a documentary about animal-assisted therapy when she became so taken with the work that she started The Good Dog Foundation. Through the organization, she influenced NewYork State law and helped make it possible for therapy dogs to enter health care facilities.

“Through therapy dog work, we’re spreading the word to a lot of people who are sick and in need about the benefits of having an animal,” McPherson says. “There’s a shift happening. People are beginning to have much more respect for dogs and their needs.”

The life-saving skills of a black Labrador have earned him a top medal in the British Army. Nine-year-old Treo’s job is to sniff out roadside bombs in Afghanistan for soldiers, and he has proved rather good at it.

In August, 2008, while working as a forward detection dog in Sangin, Treo found a “daisy chain” improvised explosive device (IED) – made of two or more explosives wired together – that had been carefully modified

and concealed by the Taliban at the side of a path. A month later, his actions saved another platoon from guaranteed casualties, again by finding a daisy chain IED.

Now he is being rewarded with the Dickin Medal – the animal equivalent of a Victoria Cross – the highest accolade for a military animal.

Treo retired and is now enjoying life with handler Sergeant Dave Heyhoe back at 104 Military Working Dogs Support Unit, in North Luffenham, Rutland.  Sgt Heyhoe said, “Treo’s work involves searching for arms and explosives out on the ground to the forefront of the troops. It’s very important. We are part and parcel of the search element. We’re not the ultimate answer but we are an aid to search. Another aid would be the metal detector – but Treo is a four-legged variety.”

Sgt Heyhoe says their relationship is now far more than a working partnership.

“Basically, me and the dog have got to understand each other and without that we can’t be effective on the ground. He must know when I want him to go somewhere to search. Everyone will say that he is just a military working dog – yes, he is, but he is also a very good friend of mine. We look after each other.”

Treo is the 63rd animal to receive the Dickin Medal – introduced in 1943 to honor the work of animals in war – and the 27th dog to receive the honor. Since its introduction it has also been presented to 32 World War II messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat.

[Courtesy of FoxNews.com]

When a young British Columbia family stopped to make camp in the Yukon wilderness they were surprised to see a scruffy dog that looked a bit like a coyote come out of the bush.

They saw the dog had porcupine quills sticking out of its face and tried to help, not knowing that simple act of kindness would be repaid in the most remarkable way – with the deliverance of their son from a life-threatening ordeal.

Two-year-old Kale disappeared into the bush wearing only a T-shirt on a cool and rainy night late last week. More than 24 hours later, search-and-rescue authorities found him alive, thanks in part to Koda, the yellow mutt with the quill-covered snout who protected the toddler and kept him warm overnight.

“A bear could have got him. Anything could have happened,” said Mike Bondarchuk, a local hotel owner who volunteered in the search for Kale. “What we do know is the dog stuck with him, all night and all the next day.”

Kale and Koda will now be able to stick together for good – Koda’s owner has given the dog to the toddler’s family.

“He was meant to be there at that time,” said Kim Dolan, the owner of Koda, who had been missing for about a week before meeting the boy.

“It was tough to give him away. I was in tears … but it was the right thing to do,” she said.

A police dog has been hailed as a hero after finding a County Fermanagh pensioner who had been missing for several hours.

Tach, a German Shepherd, tracked down the 80-year-old man who had fallen in fields near his Newtownbutler home. The man, who has Alzheimer’s disease, was suffering from mild hypothermia when he was found at about midnight last Friday.

Chief Inspector Graham Dodds said the dog had saved the pensioner’s life.

“The police helicopter and officers had been looking without success for this man,” he said. “He was located in a ditch covered by brambles so couldn’t be seen.”

“If Tash hadn’t found this poor gentleman, I believe he would be dead.”

Jake was an abused and neurotic rescue dog who scared visitors and didn’t play well with others. As far as Jim Gallagher was concerned, he was nothing but another mouth to feed and another source of bills. One day Gallagher found the sofa in shreds, with stuffing scattered everywhere. Weeks later, Jake destroyed yet another sofa. This “free” dog was costing Gallagher hundreds of dollars, and the Boulder Creek (Santa Cruz County) resident didn’t like him. That is, until the day Jake saved his son.

He was a lean and wild-looking collie mix with a silky red coat, and I thought Jake would be good protection for our family – until the time we were walking in the nearby hills and came upon a family of wild pigs. Jake ran for his life.

Eventually, we added a goofy, good-natured mutt named Riley and a shelter cat named Spot to our family. None was fond of our 4-year-old son, Joey, who often stepped on tails or yanked ears. They left the room whenever he entered, but otherwise paid little attention to him.

Then one cool autumn afternoon Joey went missing. We looked in all the obvious places but without any luck. It was getting late and the sun would soon be setting. We called the police, who immediately dispatched a helicopter. We lived in a rural area not far from Morgan Territory Regional Preserve. The rolling landscape is thick with California oak, grazing deer, wild pigs, coyotes and the occasional mountain lion.

I looked in the gully behind our house and trekked down the dry creek bed. I stepped over the barbed-wire fence and continued down the steep path underneath the dense foliage of oak and bay trees. By now I was searching hundreds of yards into the neighboring rancher’s property. I was also worrying about mountain lions.

I went farther than I had ever been before. There was no way Joey could have gone this far, not by himself. Fighting a wave of panic, I decided to resume my search closer to the house. Just as I was about to return home, Jake came bounding out of the bushes. He turned around and headed back down the gully. He was doing a perfect imitation of Lassie – it was obvious that he wanted me to follow him.

He had never done anything like that before, so I followed him an additional 100 feet down the trail. To my utter amazement, there was Joey. He was sitting in a little clearing, and standing just inches away were Riley and Spot, both calm, but watchful. Joey’s lower lip was starting to quiver. He had been brave, but was beginning to realize that he was lost.

Dogs have been man’s faithful companion for thousands of years, and on that day Jake showed me why. Our local grocery store carries cow-leg bones, but at 10 bucks apiece I was usually too cheap to buy them. The day after Joey’s rescue, Jake and Riley each got one of those bones and Spot got a catnip toy. Unaware of their hero status, they spent the day blissfully gnawing away. They earned their pet food and vet bills for life, and my family’s eternal gratitude.

At first glance, cancer researcher Michael McCulloch’s lab at the Pine Street Foundation in San Rafael, Calif., looks predictably humdrum – a computer, a few beakers and some vials. And yet, if you look a little closer, there’s something downright peculiar about the place. Most notably, the water bowls, leashes and the roll of paper towels used for sopping up slobber.

For the past 10 years, McCulloch, an acupuncturist by training, has been exploring whether the sensitive nose of his furry, four-legged research subjects can detect cancer. And after hearing accounts of canines that reportedly saved the lives of their human owners by sniffing, pawing and barking at their tumors (long before being diagnosed by a physician), he has been grappling with a thought-provoking theory: If a dog can do that spontaneously, that suggests they can be trained to do it.

The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, insists Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society’s deputy chief medical officer. “An enormous amount of research is being done to find those proteins present in small quantities in the bloodstream that may signal cancer,” Says Lichtenfeld. “That a dog could smell these is definitely within the realm of possibility.”

Mary Lane said it was a typical day at the beach for the family last October. She and Rick were relaxing on beach chairs at Indian Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks while Chi Chi rested on his own chair — restrained, of course, since he tends to chase after other beachgoers.

“He leapt out of his beach chair, still attached, dragging the beach chair, and he started sending out an alarm,” Said Lane. “He was making a sound we never heard before. Rick said, ‘Hey, what’s the matter with the dog?’ ”

It turned out nothing was the matter with Chi Chi — but there was danger some 100 yards down the beach, where Mary Lane spotted a horrific sight.

“There was a storm surge, and there were two elderly ladies — one had fallen on her back headfirst into the surf,” she said. “The other lady — a little bitty lady about 90 pounds — was trying to hold her head up, and she was in danger of being washed out.”

The Lanes rushed to pull the ladies out of the riptide, and after determining the pair were shaken but otherwise fine, returned to their spot on the beach — to find Chi Chi happily sleeping in doggy dreamworld in his chair.

The Lanes were amazed that their pampered pet could sound an alarm of danger, bellowing out strange yips that “would not let us ignore him,” Mary Lane said. And readers of Reader’s Digest were so impressed by Chi Chi’s story they voted him Hero Pet of the Year.

Martha Stern, the breeder of Bo Obama and Cappy Kennedy, one of Senator Edward Kennedy’s Portugese Water Dogs, passed away last week at the age of 72.

Martha and her husband Art Stern have been breeding Portugese Water Dogs since the 1980’s after watching the Westminster Dog Show and becoming interested in the breed. The couple’s Amigo Portugese Water Dog Kennel in Boyd, TX became world-reknowned after it was leaked that they were Bo’s breeders.

The family suggests that any desired memorial contributions be made to the Portuguese Water Dog Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 203, Parker Ford, Pa. 19457-0203 or AKC Canine Health Foundation, 8051 Arco Corporate Drive, Suite 300, Raleigh, N.C. 27617-3901.

“Lately I call him Hero, you know, you’re my Hero,” said June Argenti. “He’s not Pork Chop anymore.”

It’s a deserving nick name for a heroic dog. The nine-year-old beagle mix, otherwise known as Pork Chop, saved 71-year-old Nick Argenti over the weekend.

“I really feel that he was meant to be here,” said Nick’s daughter Kellie Germadnik.

She said her father was working in the garden when he suddenly collapsed. That’s when Pork Chop started howling and neighbors responded, jumping over fences and calling 911.

“I’m very glad. Barbara said she’s had enough dogs in her life to know that it wasn’t a normal bark. She knew there was something wrong,” said Germadnik.

Off camera, Nick and the neighbors say if it wasn’t for the dog, things could have turned tragic.