Good Dog! A German Shepherd Stops His Person from Attempting Suicide

And he did it at the last possible second, too.

It's been a big week of dogs saving people's lives. First, we had a Pit Bull protecting a lost toddler for an hour in snowy woods -- he did a such a good job that even rescuers had to stay back until the boy's father arrived. Then we had another dog, this one a stray, huddling with a lost toddler all night in a freezing marshland in Poland. Both kids are fine, though the girl is suffering from frostbite. 

Now, to cap the week, we have something even more amazing, something that might cause you to rewire your brain about how well you think your dog knows you. 

In France, a German Shepherd stopped her owner from committing suicide. And he did it by throwing himself at the rifle the woman had pointed -- and had just fired -- at her chest. The bullet still hit her, but her wound is not life threatening. 

Earlier this week, the 63-year-old woman from Sorgues walked into her backyard with a .22-caliber rifle. She fired multiple test shots, probably to ensure that the gun was working properly. Then she turned the gun on herself. 

Her dog wasn't having it. 

As a police officer told Le Figaro, "At the moment she pulled the trigger, her dog jumped on her and diverted the shot."

The officer added that the dog "probably sensed things and knocked into her to save her" and that the dog was "very affected" by what his owner was doing. 

Did the dog know his owner was going to kill herself? A better question might be: Is there any other another explanation? He knew the gun was dangerous, he knew his owner was going to use this dangerous thing on her own body, and he acted. 

The woman was found by her husband, conscious, and taken to the hospital.  

Via the Daily Mail 

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German Shepherd Stands Watch Over His Owner's Grave -- For Six Years

In Argentina, a dog named Capitan remains his human's best friend, eternally.

A German Shepherd from the Cordoba province of Argentina is setting a new bar for eternal loyalty -- he's kept vigil at his owner's grave every day, lying down in front of the tombstone at night. The dog, named Capitan, keeps a steady watch, never veering far from his duty as man's best friend. 

He's done it for six years.  

“During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, but always rushes back to the grave,” said Hector Baccega, the cemetery’s director, according to CBS Seattle. “And every day, at [6 p.m.] sharp, he lies down on top of the grave and stays there all night.”

But there's more to this story about a dog who doesn't understand the point, or the need, of saying goodbye. To be sure, Capitan displays an impressive ability by standing guard over his owner. But he displayed an otherworldly one in simply finding the grave in the first place, because nobody took him there. 

Reportedly, his owner, Miguel Guzmán, passed away in a hospital and was taken to a funeral home and then to the cemetery. None of the family members recalls the dog being present at any of those sad places. In fact, nobody even noticed that the dog had disappeared from the home after Guzmán's funeral. 

“The following Sunday we went to the cemetery,” said Guzman’s wife, Veronica, according to CBS Seattle. “Capitan came up to us, barking and wailing, as if he were crying.” 

“We had never taken him to the cemetery, so it is a mystery how he managed to find the place,” she said. 

The dog followed the family home that day but quickly returned to stand watch. Baccega, the cemetery’s director, said the dog had arrived alone one day and wandered around the grounds for a while before finding the grave by himself. 

And there he sat with his master. 

“I’ve tried to bring Capitan home several times, but he always comes straight back to the cemetery,” said Damian, Guzman’s 13-year-old son. “I think he’s going to be there until he dies, too. He’s looking after my dad.”

Via CBS Seattle

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Doggone: Tale of a Lost German Shepherd

Doggone | Short Film from F. Erickson on Vimeo.

I received the following note the other day from Los Angeles filmmaker and producer Forest Erickson:

Dear Maria,

My sister found my family’s German Shepherd (Q) 8 years ago at a shelter. Needless to say, we love him incredibly. We were very sad when he went missing for a few days some years ago, and thrilled when we recovered him safely from a shelter the following day.

While not based on literal events, I just made a short film starring my dog which I thought you might like. If you’d like to share it with others, please feel free!

Forest Erickson

So I watched it. And I knew I had to share it with my Dogster friends. If you’ve ever lost your dog — or even thought you lost your dog — you will feel this movie in your bones.

In case you’re the sort who likes some background with your movie watching, the canine star is the same dog who got lost all those years back. His name is Q (short for Cuteface, since his original name, Wolfgang, bit the dust early on), and he’s now about 9 years old, but acts like he’s 2, Erickson says. The woman who lost the dog is Erickson’s sister. And Erickson himself plays the homeless guy. (A very convincing rendition, I must say.)

Dogsters, have you ever lost your dog? What did it feel like? Did you let your imagination get away with you?

The only time I ever lost Jake, I didn’t know I lost him, thank goodness. Someone had left the door ajar, just as in Erickson’s movie, and Jake bolted. Fortunately he only went around the corner, and didn’t even cross a street. I got a call from a neighbor I didn’t know at the time, asking if my dog was missing. I laughed and said no, and then looked around and there was no Jake. I was deeply grateful this man had stopped my dog trotting merrily toward the ocean on his own. Jake, being a water dog, seemed rather disgruntled that his plan was foiled.

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German Shepherd Rescued After Getting Head Stuck in Cinderblock Wall

Look at these photos and imagine being this 8-month-old German Shepherd. Poooooor puppy! He really got himself into a pickle yesterday when he stuck his head through a hole in an 18-inch thick retaining wall on his owner’s property near Palm Springs. That does not look comfortable at all!

Animal control rescuers, who aren’t sure what drove Rebel to want to see what was on the other side of the wall, first made sure his breathing was OK and unrestricted, according to Southwest Riverside News Network. Then they started pulling from one side, pushing from the other.

“He let us know if we were pushing too hard, but he kept working right along with us. He helped us a lot. You could see his hind legs stiffen to assist in the direction we were going. He knew we were trying to save him,” said Riverside County Animal Services Sgt. James Huffman.

In about a half hour, Rebel was free, with only minor injuries. Animal control officials will be talking to the property owner about covering the hole with chicken wire so Rebel doesn’t end up looking like a mounted moose head again.

(Photos: Southwest Riverside News Network)

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