[nagdu] Seeing-eye dog alerts owner of gas leak

Chantel Cuddemi jawsgirl87 at gmail.com
Tue Jul 24 11:48:02 UTC 2012


What an amazing story! 

Glad she's all right! 

I don't know how they do it, but poodles are very smart. 

Chantel and Motley, Pilot Dog, poodle

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Ginger Kutsch
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 7:37 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] Seeing-eye dog alerts owner of gas leak

Seeing-eye dog alerts owner of gas leak

by Kenny Farmer 

The Daily Home 

Jul 24, 2012 | 324 views | 0  | 6  |  | 

Pooh the guide dog greets Talladega firefighter Ronnie Davis as he talks to
Nancy Jones of Talladega. The dog alerted Jones to a gas leak in her home
Monday morning, the fire department was called in, and the gas was safely
turned off. Jim Smothers/The Daily Home

 

TALLADEGA - Nancy Jones was folding clothes at her home on Cherry Street
Monday morning when she noticed something strange. Her seeing-eye dog, Pooh,
had brought her leash to Jones, which the dog had never done before. After
the poodle's leash was put on, Pooh aggressively pulled Jones out the front
door. As Jones was being led out, she noticed the smell of natural gas and
realized there was a leak in her home.

 

Jones was surprised to see that Pooh had brought the leash to her because
the leash was hanging approximately six feet high and Pooh had never tried
to reach it before. Jones said that she had always got the leash for Pooh
herself.

 

"That caught me completely off guard," said Jones. "That was a feat in
itself."

 

Jones, who is almost blind, said that Pooh was "very well mannered" and has
never acted the way she did Monday morning. She also said Pooh's behavior
was "very consistent" and the dog usually walks alongside her calmly, or in
heel mode. 

 

"I was surprised at her reaction," said Jones. "That had never happened."

 

Jones said she got the service dog from the Pilot Dog Program based out of
Columbus, Ohio, and that both she and Pooh were trained together through the
program.

 

"They're trained for a lot of things, but I don't know if she was trained
for that," said Jones.

 

Jones said when she smelled the gas, all she could think of was to turn it
off. However, Jones said she didn't know where to turn it off and, because
of her visual impairment, she would not have been able to find it by
herself. After exiting her home, Jones called 911.

 

Capt. Ronnie Davis of the Talladega Fire Department responded to the call
and said the leak was found to be coming from Jones' hot water heater. Davis
shut off the natural gas and opened doors so that the gas vapors could
escape from the home. Alabama Gas later responded and fixed the leak.

 

Davis said a pilot light was on and, if the home had completely filled up
with the natural gas, it could have been a dangerous situation.

 

`Jones said when she was a child, she was once in an automobile that caught
fire and later exploded. Jones escaped the gas explosion by crawling out the
vehicle's window. Jones said since that event, she has been "scared of gas
leaks."

 

As a reward for the heroic act, Jones says that Pooh will get extra treats,
new bows for her ears and "a lot of love."

 

"I don't know what I would do without her," said Jones. "Especially after
today."

 

Contact Kenny Farmer at kfarmer at dailyhome.com.

 

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/jawsgirl87%40gmail.com





More information about the NAGDU mailing list