Category: Awww

These 2 Little Dogs Helped Save Their Owners from Bear Attacks

Another little dog — a ferocious French Bulldog named Jules — scared three bears away from her family’s property in Monrovia, Calif., on Oct. 2, 2015.

Two little terriers — a Jack Russell named Sid and a Yorkie named Benji — are in the news this week for their acts of bravery. Or at least for their acts of barking.

The dogs may be small, but their barks were big enough to help prevent bears from harming or killing their owners.

JRT Alerts Family to Grizzly Bear in Kitchen

At 5 a.m. Sunday, Sid started barking and wouldn’t stop. The 9-year-old Jack Russell Terrier lives in Kimberley, British Columbia, with his pet parents, Nikki and Mark Traverse, and their 13-year-old son.

“My dog was at our bedroom door going crazy,” Nikki told CBC News. “Losing his mind. I’ve never heard him bark like that.”

Nikki got up and followed Sid to the kitchen, where she was shocked to see a grizzly bear. The bear had climbed through an open window into the house, and was eating pet food.

“I ran back into our bedroom to grab my husband and say, ‘There’s a bear in the house, there’s a bear in the house!’” Nikki told CTV News.

Mark grabbed a hunting rifle and entered the kitchen. He shot the grizzly bear when it took a step toward him.

“It took another step and I shot it again,” he told CTV News. The bear died on the kitchen floor.

Conservation Officer Jared Connatty told CTV News it’s unusual for grizzly bears to break into houses. As it turned out, the 15-year-old grizzly bear in the Traverse’s kitchen was in very poor health, “which is why it’s resorting to these measures to gain its food resource,” Connatty said.

From now on, the Traverse family will close all their windows at night.

And Sid will probably be getting extra treats. “This is the dog that saved us,” Mark told CTV News, patting the small hero.

Yapping Yorkie Nips Black Bear

As Larry Yepez stood on the front porch of his Midpines, Calif., home around 4 a.m. Thursday, a 200-pound black bear pounced on him from behind.

Yepez, a 66-year-old former Marine, fought back.

“I put my feet underneath his belly and kicked him, and the bear flipped backwards, but then he jumped back up,” Yepez told KFSN. “I was doing everything I could to try to get him off of me.”

Joining Yepez in the fight was Benji, his tiny Yorkie, who yapped and nipped at the bear. Yepez said Benji saved his life.

“His barking kept him distracted,” he told KFSN. “The bear turned around to see Benji, and that’s when I jumped up.”

He and Benji made it back into the house, but the bear tried to break in. Finally, it wandered away.

Although Yepez suffered lacerations and puncture wounds over much of his body, he was able to drive himself to a hospital. He was given rabies and antiobiotics treatments, and was released a few hours later.

Benji, who was unharmed, sat in his dog dad’s lap during the KFSN interview.

“I know, I know, that was something, huh,” Yepez cooed as his little hero gave him smooches.

Lt. Chris Stoots of the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife told the Associated Press that because of the state’s drought, bears are increasingly roaming into urban areas to forage for food and water. Before the black bear attacked Yepez, it had been eating from trash bags about 20 feet away. If the bear is found, it will probably be killed.

Stoots warned people in the area to keep trash secure, be aware of their surroundings, supervise children and pets, and to call 911 should they see a bear.

Photo via YouTube

Homeless Veteran with Terminal Cancer Reunited with Missing Service Dog

After Harry Brown was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given less than a year to live, the homeless veteran traveled from Phoenix to Long Beach, Calif., with his beloved Pit Bull service dog, Olivia, to say his final goodbyes to some old friends there.

The former Marine didn’t know he might have also said his final farewell to Olivia. While the two were napping at a dog beach earlier this month, Olivia wandered off.

Brown walked several miles to search for Olivia at shelters in Long Beach and Orange County. He put an ad on Craigslist. Days passed, and Olivia was still missing.

“We spent as long as we could trying to find her,” Brown told NBC4 News, choking back tears. “I’d just gotten rid of all her stuff because I didn’t think I’d see her again.”

Heartbroken and alone, Brown took a bus back to Phoenix. “I just kept praying that she would be with someone who could take care of her,” he said.

Meanwhile, someone who saw Olivia on a Long Beach street took her to a local shelter. At the same time, the nonprofit rescue Captain Care saw the Craigslist ad and found Olivia in the shelter.

“I got an email back. It says, ‘Your girl is in L.A. County. Go get her,'” Brown told NBC4 News.

And he did, thanks to a bus ticket purchased for him by Captain Care.

“She gives me the drive to keep going and makes my life a little better,” Brown told NBC4 News yesterday as he was reunited with Olivia. “She’s my life.”

Captain Care is using donations to have Olivia spayed and pay for her dog food and treats.

“Thank you, everyone who helped make this happen by supporting Captain Care!” the group wrote on its Facebook page last night.

“Intervention works, one dog at a time!”

Photo via Facebook

RIP Uggie, Scene-Stealing Star of ‘The Artist’

One of the most famous movie dogs since Rin Tin Tin and Lassie was Uggie, a scrappy Jack Russell Terrier who stole the show in 2011’s Best Picture winner, “The Artist.”

After battling prostate cancer, the 13-year-old star crossed the Rainbow Bridge Friday.

“We regret to inform all our friends, family and Uggie’s fans that our beloved boy has passed away,” his dog dad and trainer, Omar Von Muller, announced on Uggie’s Facebook page today.

“He was a real friend. He was very special,” Von Muller told the Associated Press.

Indeed he was. After “The Artist,” for which Uggie received the Palm Dog award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, he was featured in the films, “Water for Elephants” and “Mr. Fix It.”

In 2012, Uggie became the first dog star ever to have his paws immortalized in cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

When Uggie retired from show biz three years ago, Von Muller made sure the star didn’t turn into a couch potato.

“If they don’t get their exercise, they get old too fast, just like people,” he said.

Years ago, Von Muller saved Uggie from being sent to an animal shelter by his original owners, who thought he was too wild.

“The main message that Uggie would like to send to everybody out there is to please adopt,” Von Muller said at the Chinese Theater ceremony, according to the AP.

“He’s adopted. He made it. If you guys can adopt a dog, even if they don’t make it on the big screen, they’ll be big stars at your house.”

Photo via Facebook

Burned Chihuahua Adopted by Family of Burn Survivor

Rescuers were horrified when they discovered a Chihuahua puppy dumped behind an Antioch, Calif., animal shelter March 30.

Someone had tortured the tiny dog, leaving severe chemical burns on his ears and along his belly.

Because of this abuse, his ears had to be surgically removed. Thanks to donations, the animal rescue group Umbrella of Hope covered the cost of his medical expenses, which amounted to about $5,000.

Along with the physical trauma, the puppy, who was given the name Fireman, also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“He had a lot of strings attached,” Kristy Keusch, who fostered Fireman for four months as he recovered from surgery, told the Contra Costa Times.

Fireman hated leashes and being hugged. He would nip anyone who touched his head or neck.

“He punctured me a few times,” Keusch told the Times.

Although Umbrella of Hope received thousands of requests to adopt Fireman, the rescue figured he would do best in a forever home with a burn survivor — someone who would understand the pain the dog was going through.

That someone turned out to be 12-year-old Chloe Levenson-Cupp. When she was a baby, scalding tea was accidentally spilled on her, resulting in second- and third-degree burns that required seven surgeries. Through Umbrella of Hope and local TV station KTVU, Shriners Hospital for Children helped Chloe and her family connect with Keusch and Fireman.

Last week, 6-month-old Fireman (aka Buddy) became an official member of the Levenson-Cupp family.

“Normally, in the human world, you don’t meet burn survivors,” Chloe told KTVU. “And then meeting a dog like me is even more special.”

Fireman is already letting Chloe touch his head, but he still runs away from a leash. Chloe takes him to the pet store in a doggie stroller.

“He’s my baby — he’s definitely my baby,” Chloe told the Contra Costa Times.

Fido Alert – East Contra Costa County is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of the person who tortured Fireman. Anyone with information is asked to call Antioch Animal Services at 925-779-6989.

Back in April, another “pawfect” match was made when the family of 3-year-old Sapphyre Johnson, who is missing toes and fingers due to a birth defect, adopted Lt. Dan, a white German Shepherd puppy born without a right front paw.

Photo via Twitter

Australian Shepherd Shows Baby How to Say ‘Mama’ [Video]

Nine-month-old Sam Giovanini of Cedar Hills, Utah, couldn’t manage to say the word, “Mama,” even though he was prompted with a yummy food treat by his mom, Andrea.

“That week he had been saying ‘Dada’ a lot, and so we were trying really hard to coax him to say ‘Mama,’” Andrea told KSL.

The baby may have been speechless, but Patches, the family’s 10-year-old Miniature Australian Shepherd, had no problem showing little Sam exactly how to say the word.

Patches had been trained to say “Mama” when he was about 2 years old, so naturally he thought the treat Andrea was offering was for him, not Sam.

A home video of Patches “stealing the show (but not the food) with his ability to speak” was posted on YouTube June 30. It’s gone viral, with more than 1.7 million views.

[Aug. 7 Update: The video is now private for some reason — perhaps because some people left negative comments complaining that making Patches wait for a reward was kind of cruel.]

Rest assured that Patches did indeed get that treat he’d assumed was for him, as a subsequent video shows.

Patches isn’t the only dog who’s been seen helping a baby in a viral video. A Border Collie named Dakota showed a baby how to jump. And when another baby crawled for the very first time, the family’s big, black Lab gave her a sweet little reward.

Photo via YouTube

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