Dog Leads Owner To Elderly, Unconscious Minn. Man

[Purveyor]

(01-13) 16:03 PST Pine City, Minn. (AP) --

Police credit a 15-year-old German Shorthaired dog with saving the life of an elderly, unconscious man in Pine City. Brett Grinde said he took Effie out for their usual walk on Monday evening, but within a couple minutes she started pulling on the leash, wanting to go in a different direction.

Effie then took off running, leading Grinde to a neighbor's house where a 94-year-old man was on face down on the driveway. The dog started licking the man's face. Grinde called 911, then started CPR.

KARE-TV reported the eldery man, William Lepsch, regained consciousness and is in serious condition at North Memorial Medical Center.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/13/national/a120106S04.DTL

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

1. In awe here. When I hear stories like this, I cannot but think that there are some dogs

that are earth angels...

Hugs to Effie and healing thoughts to Mr. Lepsch.

[janx]

12. It's not so much about being earth angels as it is about the connection

that dogs have with humans. I searched for a link to a National Geographic article from years ago but could not find it.

[KittyWampus]

2. there was a suicidal veteran on Long Island who adopted a mutt who jumped out of the car

and zoned in on a dumpster with a mewling kitten.

This dog has a sixth sense on finding abandoned cats and kittens.

It also saved its owners life by giving him a reason to live (saving cats).

The dogs name was Ginny and she's gone over the rainbow bridge but here's a link to her website-

http://www.ginnyfanclub.com/index.php

[flvegan]

3. Good doggie!

[depakid]

4. Dogs have an amazing ability to detect distress

[Lars39]

5. A lot of dogs that age are losing their eyesight and hearing.

Amazing dog.

[DeschutesRiver]

6. I have a 15 year old German shorthaired boy here

and while everything else is fading (his eyesight, his hearing, etc), he still has a most powerful nose. I believe he is mostly getting around now by the use of it, so I'd beat Effie still has her extra strong german shorthaired nose and that it lead the way. If my dh told me that our boy had done this on a walk, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

I used to say my german shorthairs were nothing but a dog body being dragged around by a turbo charged nose - you hide nothing from these noses. Good for Effie and thanks for posting this good news story on a day when the Haiti tragedy is just overwhelmingly getting sadder by the moment.

[pinto]

13. "dog body being dragged around by a turbo charged nose". So true.

I have a 2 1/2 year old shorthair and if there's one iota of a breeze, he walks nose up, catching any scent that's coming down off the hills.

[DeschutesRiver]

15. Since you are a fellow shorthair owner

have you noticed yet the range of their sniffing? Mine will catch a scent on the ground, or a few inches higher off the ground (usually birds) and then sometimes stop every so often and raise up lifting their front feet off the ground to catch a higher up scent in the air (usually deer). Over the years, we actually used their noses to help us find all sorts of things in complex situations. Until recently, I'd only owned shorthairs, and assumed that all hunting breeds did the same. When I rescued an English Pointer, I noticed that she is mainly a bird dog (as opposed to a fur or fowl dog) and only sniffs at ground level.

My best gsp passed away at 13; her brother is still with us at 15. I still get a kick out of watching our boy try to find my dh in the house by sniffing his way through - he follows every footstep exactly as my dh made it and ends up at whatever door my dh eventually went through. Sometimes, if we have a repair guy in the house, we put our old dog in the bedroom and he sleeps right through the visit like he is in a coma - no longer hears anyone coming or while they are here. But when we let him out, bam, his nose activates and he follows the scent of where this stranger went. The nose is definitely the last thing to go.

May you get to enjoy a long life too with your shorthair, as we did:)

[DBoon]

7. That dog is about as elderly as the man!

Good dog!

[MinneapolisMatt]

8. Sadly, the gentleman passed away.

http://www.startribune.com/local/81374972.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs

:(

[NYC_SKP]

9. Well, cats do this, too, right?

.

<<==== "Woof!"

:evilgrin:

[janx]

10. GOOD DOG!

:hug:

[Shell Beau]

11. Even though I know how extremely amazing dogs can be, I am

always awed when I hear such stories. I love dogs. They are amazing.

[applegrove]

14. Yup.