Dogs are incredible animals in many ways, from their loving personalities to their loyalty. But another thing that makes dogs so special is their sense of smell. Dogs can smell things that we humans can never even imagine, including diseases like cancer.
One dog showed off how powerful her sense of smell was when she saved her mom’s life.
Keola is an American Akita who lives with her owners in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Ricky and Alhanna Butler take good care of her and treat her like part of the family. Recently Keola learned that her family was getting bigger: her owner was pregnant.
Keola was excited for the new arrival, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
As Alhanna’s pregnancy progressed, the expecting mother noticed a pain in her lower back.
She discussed her severe backaches with her doctor, but he wrote them off as side effects of her pregnancy. Alhanna returned home, believing that the problem was a type of growing pain from her developing child.
Alhanna may have been convinced, but Keola knew better.
She could smell something wrong inside her owner’s body. Alhanna noticed her dog acting weird, but she had no clue what it meant.
“When the doctors sent me home and said there was nothing seriously wrong, she just sat staring at me so intently that it really scared me,” Alhanna explained to Mercury Press. “I posted a picture of her doing this on Facebook and make the joke about the film Hatchi where the dog also does this and suddenly my friends all started saying I should take it seriously.”
Over time, the dog became more and more nosey. Ricky and Alhanna definitely noticed that she was trying to tell them something.
“No one really understood how ill I was – but Keola did. She would nudge me and cry and I could never figure out why she had suddenly started doing this. Ricky said she was distraught whenever I went to work, when she had never minded before.”
Luckily, Alhanna didn’t shrug off her dog’s warning signs. She went back to the hospital, where she was immediately rushed into intensive care.
What the doctors found was shocking: Alhanna had been mere moments away from losing her life.
The expecting mother had a double kidney infection that had been sending shooting pains through her back. To make matters worse, Alhanna had a rare type of infection. She barely reached the hospital in time to receive care.
“Because it was untreated for so long, it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen,” Alhanna described her horrific experience on Facebook. “On top of that I had an antibiotic resistant bug that had only ever affected one other person in the U.K. It was killing me and the doctors told me that if I had left it any longer I would have died and more than likely my son also.”
Keola had saved the day. Thanks to this pup’s loyalty, Alhanna was able to carry out her pregnancy in good health. She even had a guardian angel picked out for her baby boy: Keola.
Alhanna gave birth to a healthy boy named Lincoln, and he and Keola are best friends.
Lincoln is now 4.5 years old, and he has a younger brother, Huxley. Keola is still doing well, and she loves Huxley just as much as she loves Lincoln.
Alhanna shared a sweet photo showing the dog and baby’s bond.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219497046485281&set=pb.1487341962.-2207520000..&type=3
Keola is an incredible dog who wouldn’t rest until her mom got the help she needed. What an amazing pup.
If you’d like to learn more about Alhanna and her pup, check out the video below!
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