Buddy the Wonder Dog Saves his Humans

Buddy the Wonder Dog Saves his Humans

Man’s best friend saved the day! Buddy, a black pit lab mix, saved his forever family from a fire in late January.

This sweet dog was surrendered by his first family to Lakeshore PAWS in 2015 when they moved and couldn’t take him with them. He was with Lakeshore PAWS for over six months before the Dutcher family took him to their home in Hebron.

"Tracey [Owen] coaxed me into seeing Buddy. I'm a sucker for dogs," Mary Dutcher said. "I went there and got him that day. I was only planning to foster him and then a week later I adopted him. We just fell in love him. Buddy is just the greatest."

"Buddy was an owner surrender and he had a hard time at the center. He did not like to be in a kennel and chewed the cage so bad that he broke off a tooth," Jeanne Sommer, Executive Director of Lakeshore PAWS said. "A man brought him in and said that he was moving. Buddy had scars on his face and we did not know where they came from. He was with us from December 19, 2014 to July 13, 2015. He would sit right by the kennel door very quietly while people passed him over for other dogs."

What caused the fire was a faulty extension cord that was plugged into the wall. It got too hot, sparked, and lit up in flame. The fire leached onto a nearby couch, then up onto the wall, and then spider webbed up into the attic. Buddy woke, and quickly ran to save his family.

"He went room to room, jumping on the bed and waking everyone up," Mary Dutcher said. "He was probably thinking 'I'm getting my people out of this house. They rescued me so I'm going to rescue them'."

No matter what breed of dog or what past a dog may have, the reason they exist is to be our companions. Dogs put their humans first all the time, and places like Lakeshore PAWS make sure that they are the priority for a change.

"Black dogs are the least likely to get adopted and by looking at him, there really wasn’t anything special about him on the outside but it is the inside that counts," Sommer said.

"Pits have a bad rap. I hope people might change their minds after reading this story," Dutcher said.

Buddy is now resting comfortably and getting spoiled considerably.

You earned it, Buddy. You earned it.

Photos provided by: Lakeshore PAWS and Aspen Studios