buddy to the rescue

[Guest guest]

Rover, call me an ambulance _ dog calls 911

By AMANDA LEE MYERS (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

September 14, 2008 2:13 PM EDT

PHOENIX - " 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

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.

 

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

 

you're bored in retirement cuz your energies drained away, your money had no

answer, you just still want more! your life was never different then the guy

next door!

all your neighbors are competitors, where'd you all go wrong? there never was a

mountain to climb. potential friends are now your enemies, where'd you all go

wrong? there never was a mountain to climb.