herodog

This episode features one of my favorite kinds of stories: those in which a fortuitous string of seemingly unrelated events all lead to an incredible outcome! 

According to the American Kennel Club, the Great Pyrenees is a dog breed known to be trustworthy and mellow companions; vigilant guardians of home and family. Meet Moose, a dog who lived up to this reputation and then some.

One rainy Friday afternoon, Chris Cushna & Sheila Jane, their granddaughter Luna (age 8) &  their 2 children Anya (age 10), Logan (age 12) were looking for something to do and decided to “check out” a dog from the Portsmouth Humane Society’s “field trips for shelter dogs” Paws Around P-Town program. You won’t believe what happened next!

Learn more about, and consider supporting the Portsmouth Humane Society, where Moose lived before hero-dom!

To learn more about Chris and Sheila’s process of rebuilding after the fire, or to make a donation to help them out, please visit their GoFundMe Hero Dog Saves Portmouth Family, set up by friend James Cullen.

 

News Articles Relating to the event include:

Foster Dog Saves Virginia Family From ‘Really Big Inferno’ Houseboat Fire (msn.com)

 'A really big inferno': Foster dog helps save family from boat fire (kcra.com)

 

For more information about Moose’s breed visit:

Great Pyrenees Dog Breed Information (akc.org)

 

Here’s where you can see Chris singing the song he wrote about Moose (featured after the credits in this episode!) https://www.facebook.com/1574507554/videos/605096911824139/

 

Join our community on social media! Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook! We’d love to hear what you think of the stories our guests share and see pictures of your own beasties.

 

Beastie Bonds theme:

King James by Ghost Beatz, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library

 

Additional music & sounds effects featured in this episode include:

Storm Before the Calm by LNDO, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library

Sound Effect from Pixabay (fire)

Sound Effect by Miku Aalto from Pixabay (dog)

Sound Effect from Pixabay (boat)

Sound Effect from Michael at Pixabay (rain)

Sounds Effect by Howard Lee at Pixabay (dogs1)

Sounds Effect by Howard Lee at Pixabay (dogs2)

Piano Music by Juan Sanchez at Pixabay

Sound Effect from Pixabay (crowd)

 

We are approaching the 12 year anniversary of a massive tornado that decimated a mile-long swath in Missouri, particularly impacting the town of Joplin, in the northwestern corner of the state. One resident, Tara Prosser, happened to have an incredible Weimaraner named Lily who was uniquely suited and trained for finding missing people, both living and deceased. So often, the work of these human/canine teams remains invisible, but in Lily's case, writer and illustrator Carolyn Mueller made sure her story was told.

Carolyn's book, inspired by Tara's dog Lily, is called Lily: A True Story of Courage and the Joplin Tornado. It has just been re-released in paperback! You can find it on Carolyn’s website here! or at ReedyPress.com

Read more about Lily and Tara and Carolyn: https://www.salisburypost.com/2014/02/23/book-to-honor-rescue-dog-from-joplin-tornado/

 

Sources and Resources  for this episode include the following:

Wikipedia article about the 2011 Joplin, MO tornado:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Joplin_tornado

 

SAR dogs in Joplin

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyyFnKmSwsc

Rescue of a dog after the Joplin tornado: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OBJdhYLluU

 

Join our community on social media! Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook! We’d love to hear what you think of the stories our guests share and see pictures of your own beasties.

 

Beastie Bonds theme:

King James by Ghost Beatz, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library

Additional music in this episode includes:

More Than One Way to Go Home by Amherst, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library

The Perfect Puzzle by Cody Martin, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library

This episode’s guest, Jennifer Whiberley, was the busy mum of three lively children with all that entails. Then out of the blue, her five year old, Thomas, got terribly sick and was diagnosed with brittle type one diabetes. This diagnosis forced an extreme pivot to the normalcy of Jennifer’s family life and reshaped everything. But one golden sunbeam of light in this abrupt and terrifying experience is Poppy the Springer Spaniel.

Poppy was placed with Thomas by Hypo Hounds, a charitable organization in the UK that trains dogs to detect and alert to potentially dangerous changes in type 1 diabetic owner’s blood sugars, and are focused on children, enabling them to gain independence and freedom.

Poppy’s specialized training and bond with Thomas ended up making all the difference between life and death for Thomas in October of 2022. 

 

Jennifer’s personal blog on Facebook can be found at Mum to a Type One. 

See a video Jennifer’s Incredible Fundraising Stunt for Hypo Hounds!

Find out more about the organization that trained Poppy and placed her with Thomas, and consider making them a donation at www.hypohounds.co.uk

Support Jennifer's loop-the-loop stunt fundraising effort!

 

Articles about Thomas and Poppy:

Family dog saves schoolboy's life by SMELLING out urgent health issue - Mirror Online

Diabetes-sniffing dog saves boy’s life by detecting low blood sugar | The Independent

 

Sources for this episode include the following:

Diabetic Assistance Dogs - Hypo Hounds

Type 1 diabetes - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

Join our community on social media! Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook! We’d love to hear what you think of the stories our guests share and see pictures of your own beasties.

 

Beastie Bonds Theme:

King James by Ghost Beatz, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library

 

Episode Theme Music:

Reason for Living by Alsever Lake, Podcastle.ai Royalty-free Library