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03-15-2008, 07:35 AM | #1 |
Gizzy & Kandi spoil me Donating Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Waco, Texas
Posts: 8,477
| [News] Hero dog saves owner, loses eyesight http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/118381.html Saturday, Mar. 15, 2008 Hero dog saves owner, loses eyesight By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer BENTON CITY -- Dorothy Giddings knows heroes come in all shapes and sizes. The Benton City woman knows because her biggest hero is a 2-pound black Yorkshire terrier named Peggy Sue who saved Dorothy's life but lost her own eyesight in the process. Peggy Sue lay cradled with her head in the crook of Dorothy's elbow on Friday, as the little Yorkie's mistress told how the dog alerted her napping husband that she was having a seizure. It was March 5, and Dorothy, 77, and Gary Giddings, 69, were in their side-by-side velour recliners -- Dorothy's is pink and Gary's is blue -- to watch a little afternoon television. Dorothy told Gary she thought she might take a nap. Gary picked up a book and dozed off himself with Peggy Sue sitting in his lap. But he was startled awake when Peggy Sue leaped into Dorothy's lap and started barking in her face. He looked over and saw Dorothy leaned back in the chair, shaking uncontrollably. "She had quit breathing and her lips were turning purple," he said. "I don't know how long she'd been like that." Gary yelled for the couple's downstairs tenant to call 911 and pounded on Dorothy's chest to get her breathing again. With paramedics on the way, he let the couple's other dog, a black border collie with a body like a barrel named Cassie, inside so she wouldn't stop them on the steps up to the house. But Cassie, who the pair said always has been protective of Dorothy, saw Peggy Sue yapping at the woman and assumed the smaller dog was attacking their mistress. Cassie lunged forward and seized Peggy Sue's head in her jaws. She bit so hard that the Yorkie's eyes bulged out from the pressure. "It was like 'boom!' " Gary said, waving his arm across the room toward Dorothy's recliner. Gary pried Peggy Sue from the collie's mouth and locked her in a bathroom for protection. He noticed one eye was dangling on the dog's cheek. But Dorothy was still in trouble and he had to make sure she survived before he could help the dog. Paramedics got Dorothy to the hospital, where she learned the seizure happened because of scar tissue left behind in her brain when a benign tumor was removed two years ago. She's now on anti-seizure medication to stop it from happening again. While Gary and Dorothy were at the hospital, the downstairs tenant, who the couple think of as family, rushed Peggy Sue to an emergency veterinarian in Pasco. The vet sewed the Yorkie's eyes shut -- at a cost of almost $1,100 -- but the couple have been told Peggy Sue likely will lose one eye and be at least partially blind in the other. Further surgery likely will cost hundreds of dollars more for the couple, who said they live on a fixed income. Despite the expense, the couple never considered having Peggy Sue put down. "She's our little lifesaver," Gary said. They also don't blame Cassie, the border collie, for attacking the smaller dog. "She was trying to protect her mama, too," Gary said. "She just didn't know how to go about it." Dorothy said the dog seems to be adjusting to blindness. She still wags her tail at their voices and gets around the house pretty well, only occasionally bumping into a piece of furniture. On Friday, the Yorkie's ears stood at attention and she sniffed her nose at sounds, especially the voices of strangers in her kitchen. But her tail wagged as Dorothy held her close. "She's always been more daddy's dog," Dorothy said. "When she sleeps on the bed, she sleeps right on top of him. But she's always been trying to win me over." All it took was an act of heroism.
__________________ The fullness of our heart is expressed in our eyes, in our touch, in what we write, in what we say, in the way we walk, the way we receive, the way we need. -Mother Teresa ( RIP Gizmo 3/9/07-8/18/12) |
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03-15-2008, 08:45 AM | #2 |
Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Illinois
Posts: 4,139
| What a sweet story! And it's so nice to read that there isn't animosity because of the Yorkie's injuries. That makes the story even better!! People who actually understand their animals' behaviors.
__________________ Diane, and my boys ..... Coby and Reggie !! Striving to be a YTPP - a YT Positive Poster! In Memory of My Beautiful Mother 7/22/28-8/27/08 |
03-15-2008, 01:20 PM | #3 |
I love my lil wolf! ;) Donating Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Washington
Posts: 2,434
| That is a sweet story but i cant help but feel horrible for that little yorkie... i understand why the collie did it because everytime i scream or fake scream (like if one of my sisters decide to tackle me or something) princess always bites them.. but still at least the owners are okay but poor baby losing her eyesite and in a horrible way cuz she was just trying to help her owner |
03-18-2008, 10:34 AM | #4 |
Mojo, LilyGrace & Me Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: cuddling with my babies<3
Posts: 17,329
| OH MY GOODNESS!! What a story....I am gla that everyone is okay, but that is just horrible about little Peggy Sue!
__________________ Hi I'm Jenn Mom to..... Mojo,LilyGrace & DD Kate RIP Mojo FOREVER in our hearts! |
03-18-2008, 10:36 AM | #5 |
Gizzy & Kandi spoil me Donating Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Waco, Texas
Posts: 8,477
| I just read a brief update and Peggy Sue is doing well adjusting to her blindness. I didn't post it because it was just a brief blurb, but thought you might like to know.
__________________ The fullness of our heart is expressed in our eyes, in our touch, in what we write, in what we say, in the way we walk, the way we receive, the way we need. -Mother Teresa ( RIP Gizmo 3/9/07-8/18/12) |
03-18-2008, 10:41 AM | #6 |
Mojo, LilyGrace & Me Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: cuddling with my babies<3
Posts: 17,329
| That's great...still sad though...I am just so emotional when it comes to animals! Poor thing!
__________________ Hi I'm Jenn Mom to..... Mojo,LilyGrace & DD Kate RIP Mojo FOREVER in our hearts! |
03-18-2008, 01:46 PM | #7 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: upstate ny
Posts: 5,847
| What a nice story but sad too.... |
03-18-2008, 08:48 PM | #8 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: USA
Posts: 66
| Things like this are so great! You would be surprised about how many animals save lives everyday!! We once had a lab that would not leave our neighbor's side before he would have an episode. They really sense things we cant.
__________________ ~:-wit-:~ |
03-22-2008, 08:10 PM | #9 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 765
| Awwww poor Peggy Sue. What a HERO!!!! This is a very sad but great story. I'm sure she will adjust to her blindness soon. My prayers go out to the whole family. |
03-28-2008, 10:53 AM | #10 |
YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Illinois
Posts: 326
| that story made me tear up!!! it was a sweet story.. but it's sad that the yorkie had to lose eyesight.. that's the saddest part of the story... |
04-08-2008, 05:56 PM | #11 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Lima, Ohio
Posts: 86
| This story made me cry. It's like what happen with Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy. The tiger was trying to help him and ending up hurting him in the process.
__________________ Proud Mama of Wednesday!!! |
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