When you think of a hero, what do you picture?
Superman? Batman? A firefighter? A policeman?
Do you ever think of an old retired dog?
Probably not, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be.
This fact is proven by a 12-year-old retired sheepdog named Louie.
Louie lives with his family in Alexandra, New Zealand, and had been having a normal relaxing day when he decided to go out for a walk.
Louie’s family lives on the same farm as when he was first brought home as a puppy to help with the herding, so he knew the property very well and used to go for wanders all the time.
His exploration had slowed in recent years though as he was getting older and was less inclined to go off doing his own thing.
On this particular day though, he trotted off into the distance, and the family was left waiting for hours for him to return.
Eventually, Louie made his way back home and collapsed in an exhausted heap on the family deck.
His family was very worried about him, he was looking totally worn out and barely moved.
It was then that they noticed a note had been attached to his collar and the family began to fear the worst.
They thought he had gotten himself into trouble, or that someone had hurt the poor pup and that the perpetrator wanted to let the family know what had happened.
However, what they read on the note proved to be the exact opposite of their fears.
“Louie is the hero of the day.” the note read, “He led me to Maddy in distress stuck under a branch pile. Cheers, Rob.”
It turned out that Louie had heard the cries of his neighbor’s dog from a mile away and went to investigate what was going on.
He found little Maddy trapped under branches and unable to move.
That is when Louie’s hero mode kicked in; he went to find Rob, Maddy’s owner and insisted the man follow him.
Somehow, Rob knew exactly what Louie wanted him to do, so he followed the old sheepdog over to where his pup was trapped.
Together, Rob and Louie removed branches and dug a trench so that Maddy could escape.
When she was out, the two dogs ran together to a nearby pond where they cooled off in the water and drank thirstily.
Rob presented Louie with a handful of treats and attached the note to his collar so that his family would know why he had been gone for so long.
Louie’s family said that the old dog was unbelievably exhausted and spent the rest of the night, and most of the next day, sleeping.
It was only when Rob rode his bike over to the house, with Maddy in a basket, that Louie perked up again.
Now, not only has the old dog earned a relaxing retirement through his years of farm work, he has earned the moniker of ‘Hero’ as well.
“It has changed the way I look at him…” one of Louie’s owners told The Dodo, “…I’m so proud of him.”
Isn’t this an incredible story?
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