"Man's best friend" doesn't go far enough for Buddy — a German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner's life by calling 911 when the man had a seizure. And it's not the first time Buddy has been there for owner Joe Stalnaker, a police officer said Sunday. On a recording of the 911 call Wednesday, Buddy is heard whimpering and barking after the dispatcher answers and repeatedly asks if the caller needs help. "Hello, this is 911. Hello ... Can you hear me? Is there somebody there you can give the phone to," says the dispatcher, Chris Scott. Police were sent to Stalnaker's home, and after about three minutes Buddy is heard barking loudly when the officers arrived. Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Stalnaker spent two days in a hospital and recovered from the seizure. "It's pretty incredible," Clark said. "Even the veteran dispatchers — they haven't heard of anything like this." Clark said police are dispatched whenever 911 is called, but that Stalnaker's address was flagged in Scottsdale's system with a notification that a trained assistance dog could call 911 when the owner was incapacitated. Clark said Stalnaker adopted Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan-based Paws with a Cause, which trains assistance dogs, and trained him to get the phone if he began to have seizure symptoms. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able to press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line, Clark said. Clark said Buddy has made two other 911 calls when Stalnaker was having seizures. He said Stalnaker's seizures are the result of a head injury he suffered about 10 years ago during a military training exercise. Stalnaker was not listed in the phone book, and he did not immediately respond to a request through police for an interview. For more odd news, visit Kn1ghtly Knews
Dogs can be trained to do about anything. I love my dog and she is smart as hell. Fetch me a bear, get the foot rest, play halo for me. Ok not that smart, but she is my little buddy!
If only i could train my cats to do that... Then again, training them to use the litter box was half a miracle.
that is awesome, it sounds like something my dog would do for me. sadly my dog died about 3-4 weeks ago
I believe there has been more than one account of a dog calling 911. Only a handful (of a midget's hand) found to have any sort of truth. Still an amazing feat to hear about. Good idea to post this knight.
I guess I should probably get a dog then, if it is good for my health. That's pretty amazing though. Some animals are incredibly intelligent.
Not THAT intelligent, only doing what it's been trained to do. It's not exactly thinking "He's ill, call 911!!" He's thinking "He's making the sign to do that thing with the buttons n barking"
What's amazing, is that the police actually went there. They could've just taken it as a prank call. How big were the telephone buttons? lol...