Dogs are amazing pets—they’re not just fun and loyal companions, but they can actually alert you of danger and even save your life.
They’re incredibly instinctive animals and can pick up on things before their humans do, preventing fatal accidents. That was the case for one brave dog, who sensed danger and sacrificed himself to save his owner.
In 2018, Paula Godwin, from Arizona, was on a walk with her two dogs. It was a bright, sunny morning, and she says she was feeling “carefree.”
She never expected the terrifying situation they were headed towards.
As they were walking, her dog Todd suddenly jumped on her leg. She looked down and suddenly realized the dog had seen something she didn’t: a rattlesnake.
“I did not see that snake,” Paula told ABC News. “It was so camouflaged in the road. It was a gray-speckled, gray and white rattlesnake.”
Seeing the venomous snake before his owner did, Todd jumped to the rescue.
He shielded Paula from stepping on the snake—by heroically putting himself in danger instead.
“He jumped right in front of my leg [where] I surely would have got bit,” Paula wrote on Facebook.
The snake bit Todd, and the venom caused his face to puff up.
Paula rushed him to the hospital, where they administered anti-venom. Luckily, he was able to make a full recovery.
“He was there for about 12 hours, and we were able to bring him home Friday night,” Paula told ABC News.
Within a few weeks, Todd was good as new. Paula posted a photo of him enjoying the park, his face fully healed:
“Todd’s doing so well,” Paula wrote. “He is a wonder to me how he is healing.”
She says the brave dog will always be her “hero,” and even got him his own superhero cape.
What an incredible dog! Spread the word of his heroic story by sharing this story!