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AntiquePooch.com Heroic Dog Stories. If you have your own heroic dog story please e-mail us and your story could be included on our site. Ever Faithful Medor Medor was the dog of a worker during the French Revolution of 1830. During the attack on the Louvre on July 29, 1830, the worker was shot and killed. His dog Medor, the man’s only friend remained with his master's body. Several days later the corpses were piled onto an enormous hearse and driven to their final resting place. Medor was seen following the hearse and remained even after the mourners left. At daybreak he would disappear, only to return every evening to cry on his master’s grave. Delta Of Pompeii Delta was found alongside the remains of a young boy in the ruins of Pompeii. The remains show clearly that Delta was trying to protect his master, a young boy named Serverinus, from the devastation caused by the volcano. A collar around Delta’s neck revealed that this was not the first time he had tried to save Serverinus. Engraved on the collar was Delta's name and that Delta had saved Severinus three times. Once he pulled the boy out of the ocean and saved him from drowning. Another time Delta fought off four robbers who assaulted Severinus. And that Delta protected the boy from an angry wolf. His last act of heroism at Pompeii, however, was not enough. But, almost miraculously, Delta’s heroism is immortalized in the ruins of Pompeii. Genie The Heroic Greyhound Genie was a rescued greyhound at the age of 11. She was newly retired after 5 years of running and 5 years of breeding. Her new owners Neena & Tim Derf were real happy with their new dog. Genie was taken to the vet for her annual shots on Sunday afternoon. That night, at about 3:30 A.M., she came into the bedroom and woke Neena up. She never does that! I thought she was sick from the shots, and got up to take her out. To my shock, I found my husband, passed out at the other end of the house. He had an internal bleeding problem, and had hemorrhaged to the point that he was ten minutes from death. Yes, I would have slept through it, if it weren't for our miracle girl, Genie!
Gander The Newfoundland Dog War Hero Gander, formerly named Pal, was acquired as mascot, by the Royal Rifles of Canada, who were stationed in Gander, Newfoundland during WW2. Pal had accidentally scratched a child and his owners, upset by the incident, offered him to the Royal Rifles. In 1941, during the WW2, the Royal Rifles of Canada were sent, along with Gander, to Hong Kong Island to defend the island against Japanese attacks. On one occasion, Gander charged Japanese soldiers as they were approaching some wounded Canadian soldiers; most likely saving the soldiers' lives. Gander's final act of bravery cost him his own life, but saved the lives of the men he was with. On December 19, 1941, during the Battle of Lye Mun on Hong Kong Island. During the attack, Gander picked up a grenade that had landed next to a group of soldiers and carried it away. The grenade exploded, instantly killing Gander.
Gander was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal on October 27, 2000. Gander's medal is on permanent display in the Hong Kong section of the Canadian War Museum. This week's lesson in loyalty and friendship comes from two dogs in the devastated coastal Arahama area of Japan. A Japanese camera crew came across one of the dogs pacing frantically around the apocalyptic scene and discovered it was actually protecting another pooch lying motionless nearby. president of Butch Japan, a dog and cat food company: was weak. So it is in the vet clinic in Ibaraki Prefecture. The other dog is in the shelter of the same area. But please know that those two are just the tip of the iceberg. There are more and we need help. Watch the heart-rending video below. faithful-dog-alerts-japanese-camera-crew-to-injured-pooch-video Red The Brave Sled Dog In Anchorage, Alaska in 1959 a female sled dog named Red fought a bloody battle with a polar bear to save the life of Col. E. Feathers, the Alaska Air Command. The colonel met the 275 pound bear in the afternoon semi-darkness. The bear lunged and the colonel tried to make it to his quarters but he could not get much traction in the snow. Just when it seemed the bear was on top of me, Red attacked him from the rear. While the bear was trying to kill Red a member of the station staff slew the big beast with his revolver. Red was mauled severely but survived. Villa, The Newfoundland, Ken-L Ration Dog Of The Year 1983
blown into a large snowdrift about forty feet from her home. Disoriented, blinded by the blowing 60 mile per hour winds full of snow, she began to scream for help. Villa, a 1 year old black Newfoundland puppy belonging to Mrs. Lynda Veit, heard Andrea's cries and leaped over the five foot fence surrounding her. Villa ran eighty feet to the snowdrift, found Andrea, and licked her face. Then she circled the girl to clear the snow entrapping her. Once Andrea was free, Villa cleared a path for her through the blinding snow and led her to the front door of Andrea's house. Reona Ken-L Ration Dog Of The Year 1989 Reona , a Rottweiler left her house and jumped over three fences to come to the aid of 5-year old Vivian Cooper during an earthquake. Vivian has epilepsy, and over excitement could bring on a life threatening seizure. Once in the house Reona pushed the little girl up against the kitchen cabinets and held her there. Moments later a large microwave was shaken of the top of a refrigerator, falling in the exact spot that Vivian had just been. Vivian held onto Reona during the earthquake with her head buried into the big dog's fur. For her heroism Reona was the Ken-L Ration Dog Hero of the Year in 1989. Sandy The Brave Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Keith Chandler, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident, was rescued by his two year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Sandy, when a fire broke out in his home. The man yelled at his children to leave the house after he smelled the fire. He managed to roll himself off the bed and tried to drag himself by the elbows across the floor but was making little progress. Sandy rushed in from the garden, grabbed onto the top of his jumper and began dragging Chandler to the door. She managed to get her owner outside. "The whole room almost exploded just seconds after Sandy pulled me into the garden," said Chandler. The fire, which started in the kitchen, was so intense that it gutted the house in less than 30 minutes. "The dog undoubtedly helped this man get out of the house. He is severely paralysed and I think without the dog's help we would probably be dealing with a fatality here," said a spokesperson for the fire department.
Shep Fort Benton's Famous Dog In 1936 a sheepherder fell ill while tending his flock and was brought to the St. Clare Hospital in Fort Benton, Montana. A sheep dog had followed the herder into town and soon set up a vigil at the hospital's door. The sheepherder died and the herder's family requested that his body be sent back home. On that August day the undertaker put the body on the train for shipment to his waiting relatives. As the gurney was rolled out onto the platform, a big gaunt shepherd dog with watchful eyes appeared out of nowhere and watched as the casket was loaded into the car. Attendants later recalled the dog whining as the door slammed shut and the engine slowly started to pull away from the station, then head down, turning and trotting down the tracks. On that day the dog, later named Shep, began a five-and-a-half year vigil that was only broken by his death. Day after day, meeting four trains daily, Shep became a fixture on the platform. He eyed each passenger hopefully, and was often chased off as a mongrel but never completely discouraged. Neither the heat of summer days nor the bitter Montana winter days prevented Shep from meeting the next train. As Shep's fame spread, people came from everywhere to see him. Shep was an older dog when he came to the station house in Fort Benton. Throughout his vigil the long nights under the platform and the coldwinter had taken their toll. Stiff-legged and hard of hearing, Shep failed to hear old 235 as it rolled into the station at 10:17 that cold winter morning. He turned to look when the engine was almost upon him, moved to get out of the way, and slipped on the icy rails. Shep's long vigil had ended Shep's funeral was held two days later. He was laid to rest on the bluff overlooking the station where his long wait had been in vain. With renewed interest generated by the fiftieth anniversary of Shep's death, the community of Fort Benton organized a committee to produce a lasting memorial to their famous dog. The West's most renown sculptor, Bob Scriver, was contracted to create a heroic-sized bronze statue of Shep. Etched bricks and miniature bronze statues were sold to finance Brave Dog of William of Orange In 1572, the Pug was chosen as the official dog of the House of Orange in Holland when a silver Pug named Pompey saved the life of his master, William, Prince of Orange. On the night of September 12, l572 a body of Alva's Spanish troops surprised Dutch William's camp. Upon hearing enemy soldiers, Pompey licked William's face and barked noisily until the prince awoke. William then grabbed Pompey, and ran to safety. To his dying day the Prince ever afterwards kept his dog in his bedchamber. To mark the whole event and the importance of Pompey, an effigy of Willliam and his pug is carved over William's tomb in Delft Cathedral.
Chips The War Dog During World War II, a shepherd mix dog named Chips was donated by Edward J. Wren of Pleasantville, NY to the war effort. Many citizens donated their dogs for duty. Chips was soon on the front lines acting as a tank guard dog in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. At one point, he dragged a phone cable across a raging battlefield, so that his platoon could call for backup. The one event Chips is most known for though happened on a beach in Sicily. When he and his handler came under fire from a hidden pillbox, Chips sprang from his handler and dove straight into the enemy emplacement. The soldiers inside came out moments later and surrendered, with Chips behind them. That would be impressive enough, but later that night he also alerted his squad to some approaching Italians, who were promptly captured as well. Chips received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for his adventures, but had them stripped away when dogs were reclassified in the military as "equipment," making him the last canine to be officially decorated.
Sefton Hero and Rufford Ormonde, two prize collies of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, of New York, saved a young woman from drowning in July, 1897. Robert K. Armstrong, the Superintendent of Mr. Morgan's kennels, with his wife, baby, and friend were upset in their boat on the Hudson, and thrown into the river. The friend could not swim, and the noble dogs plunged to her rescue. Rufford Ormonde took hold of one arm with his teeth, and Sefton Hero placed himself so that the woman rested squarely on his back. Working together they dragged her safely to shore. Mr. Armstrong writes me: "I still have them both in the kennels, and there were never two more faithful dogs." From "Our Devoted Friend The Dog" By Sarah Bolton
The Loyal Akita Hachiko In 1924, a professor Hidesaburo Ueno from the University of Tokyo brought his dog, Hachiko, to live with him. The two developed a routine, where the dog would see the professor off at his home and then meet him at the train station later. Then one day, the professor didn't show up at the train station. He'd had a stroke at the university and died. Hachiko was given away to another owner, but he would often escape and turn up at his old home. The dog must have eventually realized that Ueno wasn't coming home, and so he went to look for him at the train station. For ten years, Hachiko would arrive at the train station exactly when the evening train showed up and would wait for his former owner. Other commuters noticed the loyal pooch and began to bring him food and snacks. He even gained national attention when a former student of Ueno's published several articles about him. One artist even built and erected a bronze statue of the dog while he was still alive. Hachiko died in 1935, but his legend continues to live on in Japan.
In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station, and Hachikō himself was present at its unveiling. The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned Takeshi Ando, son of the original artist who had since died, to make a second statue. The new statue, which was erected in August 1948, still stands and is an extremely popular meeting spot. Rob The Para Pup
In the spring of 1942, the British started using, what they called para pups, with their first airborne army and SAS units. They were trained to lead soldiers behind enemy lines, sniff them out, and give silent warning and direction to the patrol. worked with the SAS. Rob would be parachuted in and would have to wait for his owner to find him and remove the parachute. Rob while working never failed to alert the SAS party for the many months while they were behind enemy lines in both North Africa and later in Italy. Rob made a total of 12 jumps into enemy territory. Judy was a pure bred English Pointer born in Shanghai in 1936 and adopted as a mascot by the Royal Navy, serving in several gunboats. The boat she was on was torpedoed and the survivors were captured by the Japanese. They spent two years as their prisoner of war under the most horrifying conditions in Sumatra where prisoners were used as slave labour to lay 3,000 miles of railway track. Williams to whom she attached herself. The Japanese guards who several times tried to shoot her because she would be threatening and distracting to them on many occasions when they began to beat their prisoners. about her magnificent life called "Judy VC" by E. Varley. Sport The Shepherd Dog Sport, a shepherd dog, saved the life of a little child of Martin Fitzgerald in Monroe, Indiana, in the summer of 1898. The child had gone into the pen where there were hogs. The hogs were known to tear into pieces anything that would wonder into their pen. Sport kept the hogs at bay by his frantic barking until his master appeared. The dog had really annoyed the farmer before with is barking and he considered getting rid of old Sport. Now that his barking saved his child, Sport was gratefully cared for, and appreciated for his devotion. Brave Barry The St. Bernard Barry was a dog who lived with the monks in the Convent of St. Bernard. He served the hospital in the Alps for twelve years, and saved no less than forty persons. Barry would go out alone in the deep snow in search of lost travelers, barking at the top of his lungs as he went, sometimes falling from exhaustion. When he could not drag back a traveler alone, he hastened to the hospital for aid. One day he found a child apparently dead from the cold, but Barry licked the boy till he warmed him into consciousness, when he induced him to tie himself to his warm, shaggy body and he carried him to the hospital.
On November 15, 1899 the family of William O'Donnell in New York City, were saved from a burning house by their large watch dog. At three o'clock in the morning the dog saw the two story frame house on fire. He bounded up the porch, dashed through the window where the man and his wife were sleeping and awakened them by his barking and running in great agitation. Mr. O'Donnell carried his sick wife and new one month old baby out into the rain to the nearest house, shouting to his five other children as he went, and then rushed back to try and save them. The firemen had reached the house meantime and together they rescued the children just before the flames reached them. Had it not been for the alert, faithful dog, probably eight persons would have perished.
The True Story Of Stubby The War Dog Stubby was the most decorated war dog of WW1. Stubby was found on the Yale campus by John Conroy. He was part Pit Bull and Boston Terrier. Stubby was smuggled aboard the transport SS Minnesota. As many dogs smuggled in war their simple duty was as devoted friend, providing comfort under stress in a horrid war. Stubby served with the 102nd Infantry, in France for 18 months and participated in four offensives and 17 battles. He was in many battles and was under constant fire, day and night for over a month. After being gassed himself, Stubby learned to warn his unit of poison gas attacks, located wounded soldiers, and since he could hear the whine of incoming artillery shells before humans could, he would let his unit know when to duck for cover. He was solely responsible for capturing a German spy in the Argonne. He also saved a young girl from being hit by a car. At the end of the war, Conroy smuggled Stubby back home. In 1926, Stubby died in Conroy's arms. His remains are featured in The Price of Freedom: Americans at War exhibit at the Smithsonian. Stubby was honored with a brick in the Walk of Honor at the United States World War I monument, Liberty Memorial, at Kansas City at a ceremony held on Armistice Day, November 11, 2006. In October, 1898, Engineer Dorsay saw a dog on the railroad track near Edwardsport, on the Indianapolis and Vincennes Road, acting in a strange manner. He shut off the steam engine, and soon noticed that the dog was jumping up and down as if the dog was frightened. They soon saw an object and stopped the train. The object was a baby from a neighboring house. The baby had made her way to the track and then fell asleep. When the engineer picked the baby up, the dog jumped upon him and barked as though he was wild with joy. A Great Dane dog saved Swen Olson of Chicago from death by fire in December 1898. Swen lived alone with his dog in a frame house and was asleep on the second floor, when the dog awakened him by barking and pulling on his bed clothes. The smoke had half suffocated the man, sixty years old, so he was unable to escape. The faithful dog stayed by his master until he saw the walls around him burning. So the dog ran into the street whining and barking to attract the attention of the fireman, who were trying to extinguish the flames of the adjacent building as well as he one where Olson was living. They ran to the second story, guided by the Great Dane, and found the man unconscious, and carried him out of the house. The dog had saved his life. Nick wrote our website and stated, "Elizabeth was a faithful dog that served in Iraq and was wounded from a falling piece of shrapnel from an artillery shell. I was unconscious and she dragged me to the base in Fallijha." Greyfriars Bobby There was a little dog in Edinburgh named Bobby. Bobby was a Skye Terrier, and he so loved his master, John Gray. The two were inseparable for several years. On February 15th 1858, Gray died and was buried in Greyfriars churchyard in the town of Edinburgh. Bobby, who survived Gray by fourteen years, is said to have spent the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave. Bobby died in 1872 and could not be buried within the cemetery itself, since it was regarded as "consecrated" ground. Bobby was buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave. Today stands a statue and a granite stone which is inscribed,
"Greyfriars Bobby died 14th January 1872 aged 16 years Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all" Gertrude wrote our website and stated, "My dog died in a horrific accident when he was running to save me from a crashing building in Haiti."
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