Dog Saves Family During Fire (A beautiful and Touching Story)

NBC17.com ^ | February 18, 2004 | Internet Broadcasting Systems

[ComtedeMaistre]

Dog Saves Family During Fire

Tyler Alerted Sleeping Owner Of Fire Monday

POSTED: 12:32 p.m. EST February 18, 2004

READING, Mass. -- One Boston-area family has learned that sometimes heroes come from the most unlikely places -- even the pound.

Television station WCVB reported that Tyler, a German shepherd/Shar-Pei mix, has been credited with saving the lives of his owners after fire broke out in their home.

Monday night, the Costa family lost their home of 55 years after an apparent electrical fire started in the basement. Margaret Costa said she, her husband, and her son were asleep, but thankfully, Tyler wasn't.

"He kept pawing me and I said, 'Go lay down.' When I sat up my head was surrounded by the smoke," said Costa.

Alerted to the fire, she ran upstairs to wake her son while her husband ran downstairs to try to extinguish the flames.

"We all got out alive. Thank God," said Costa.

For Tyler it was payback after the family sprang him from a dog shelter four years ago.

"They say dog is man's best friend, but he's also woman's best friend," said Costa with Tyler by her side.

[ComtedeMaistre]

Isn't this sweet? Thank goodness the family got out safe.

[ambrose]

Pit bulls maul, maim and kill, and other dogs save and love people.

[LPStar]

A German Shepherd/Shar-Pei would be an interesting mix.
Mutts and mongrels are the best, in my biased opinion. :-)

[RKM]

My mom had a pit bull that was the nicest dog you could imagine, unless you were going to break into the house.

[Xenalyte]

Go Tyler go!

[catonsville]

A German Shepherd Sha-Pei mix. A wrinkled Rin Tin Tin. Does anybody have that dog's picture? I would love to see it.

[Viking2002]

'Mutts' and 'mongrels' don't carry the same pure, undiluted genetic baggage that purebreds do. I think they always seem to embody the best traits of their mixed lineage. And mixed-breeds also tend to live longer (my childhood dog, Sugar, was 19 when she got done in by a neighbor pulling out in front of the house). I'll take a scruffy ol' mutt over some poor, overbred AKC monstrosity any day. And I currently have two - from the same litter - that I would literally take a bullet for. :-)

[codyjacksmom]

Dogs are great. Mine are like my kids to me. Please don't put down the pure breds. I have a Chow and a Great Pyrenees that are AKC and they are wonderful. They can make me smile when nothing else can.

[cavtrooper21]

My wife and I are looking at a Coonhound / Bassett mix. He's a little "different" looking but cute as a button and as loving as they get. He was found on the side of the road in below zero temps along with his mom & siblings.

He and mom made it. We would take mom too, she's the Basset mix, but the folks that operate the shelter/rescue won't give her up... She's a sweetie too.

[Sunsong]

Great story. I remember reading about a German Shepherd that laid over the top of a one or two year old child during a fire. The dog gave his life, but the child survived.

[LuigiBasco]

Pets to the rescue again. Gotta give that wonderful dog a nice big TBone steak! Or two!

[Viking2002]

OK, dig this: we have two dogs - Nigel and Rhubarb. Mother and father were both your prototypical Dachshunds. As Mark Twain said, a dog-and-a-half long, and half-a-dog high. LOL Well, as they grew, Nigel resembled his mother, right down to the color of his fur. Rhubarb resembled her father, but we noticed something early on: Rhubarb seemd to be getting jowls. And Shar-Pei-like wrinkles. And she was growing LONG legs. And getting, well, plump. :-) By the time they were fully grown, we (along with the vets) had determined that, while Mom and Pop were, for all genetic intents, Dachshunds, there were some recessive beagle genes in the canine woodpile, and damned if Rhubarb didn't show them in full bloom. LOL Nobody - and I mean nobody - can look at these two, side by side, and believe that they came from the same litter. It's incredible. He looks like some dainty, aristocratic little priss, and she looks like some stray that you'd catch rummaging through your garbage can (and they have the personalities and appetites to match). But, God love 'em both, they're the sweetest things, they're like a pair of three-year-olds, they sleep on the bed with us, and we'd donate a kidney to save them.

[Viking2002]

I'm not disparaging your 'kids', I know you love them as much as we love ours. I've just seen the differences, and prefer mixed breeds. I used to work at a pet shop - those poor dogs coming from 'puppy mills' were so inbred sometimes, they had immune disorders and physical handicaps right from birth. We had one named 'Puggy', a Boston Terrier, that supposedly had 'papers', but his hips were so bad, the owners couldn't sell him. He became the store mascot along with a gorgeous African Grey parrot named Samantha. Besides, as much as I love dogs, I'd like to choke the sh!t out of my sister's 'AKC' border collie. LOL I have never seen - EVER - a dog so high strung and barky. She and my mother always give us that 'it's the way the breed is' spiel. Well, for God's sake, breed a little koala bear into it before our eardrums rupture! LOL :-)

[cavtrooper21]

My wife has always had dogs, but right now we are dog-less. We have a monkey(our 5 year old boy), but while we love him, and would do anything for him,(kids are like that) we have this hole in the family that needs filling.
Max needs a home, we need a dog.. Funny how things work out that way.

[codyjacksmom]

I know I am a "little" sensitive in this area. LOL. I had bought a couple of dogs from pet stores also. A Cocker I had, had so many eye problems, his eyes shriveled almost to the point of falling out. I also had a Chow (my favorite baby ever) and she started having grand maul seizures when she was eight. I agree that I would NEVER get another dog from a puppy mill store. It is to sad and heartbreaking. I have also had many mixed babies that were also wonderful. Take it from someone that has had at least one dog in her life (sometimes up to four) every day of her life (literally),most of a dogs personality is from ownership. Sometimes it will be because of cross breeding but I mostly blame owners for the "bad" dogs. Whether they are mutt or pure, I love them all equally and always will. ;^)

[Dante3]

Nice story.

[grellis]

My mother in law had an AKC collie who would herd anything sunrise to sunset. She'd herd chairs, tables, kids, little bits of newspaper, rocks in the backyard...she was perfectly healthy but the instinct to herd was so strong in her it made me want to pull my hair out.

My mutt's strongest instincts are to chase the gas meter-reading guys and to hog the best spot on the couch. The sweet lil girl.

[grellis]

With pure breeds AND mongrels, it all comes down to the same basic principle: parentage. There are bonuses and drawbacks to either choice but the smartest thing any potential dog owner can do is know the animals parents. When that's not possible, like with pound puppies, knowing as much about the animals likely breeding is essential.

[grellis]

My wife and I are looking at a Coonhound / Bassett mix.

Sounds fabulous! A dog like that would sure take care of my squirrel problem!

[codyjacksmom]

I have hardly ever known my dogs "parents" but haven't had a bad one yet in almost 40 years. That's alot of dogs! That is why I say that how a dog is raised is, almost always, the most important factor in a dogs behavior. More proof? I have had four Chows, including the one I have now, and they have a nasty reputation. Mine have ALL been awesome. This is enough proof for me. Whether mixed or pure, almost every single dog has it in them to be wonderful. It's up to the owners.