For thousands of years, men and women have known who to turn to in times of trouble – a dog. All over the world dogs have risked, and often lost, their lives to look after the human beings they care for. Their intelligence, devotion and astonishing courage to help humans in distress on countless occasions almost defies belief. Their stories range from Roselle the Labrador, who led her blind owner to safety from the carnage of the World Trade Centre, to the legends of Balto and Togo, two of the huskies who traversed over 1,000 kilometres of snow and ice to bring life-saving medicine to an isolated town, and Swansea Jack, the black Labrador who rescued almost 30 people from drowning and who had a statue erected in his honour. Many of the dogs featured in this book have been specially trained to help humans, a task they eagerly set about regardless of the physical risk they face as a result. Then there are the family pets who, when danger threatens, react with total disregard for their own wellbeing, caring only about one thing; protecting the humans they love.
Оглавление
John McShane. Man's Best Friends - True Stories of the World's Most Heroic Dogs
MAN’S BEST FRIENDS
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
DOG PHYSICIANS
STATELY GERMAN SHEPHERDS
GREATER LOVE HATH NO DOG THAN THIS…
RESCUE DOGS
AWAY IN A HEARTBEAT
NE’ER HAD MANKIND A MORE FAITHFUL FRIEND THAN THOU
THE DOGS OF WAR
THE DOGS OF WAR (POST WORLD WAR II)
ALLIGATORS, SNAKES AND OTHER DANGERS
FAITHFUL FRIENDS
BALTO AND TOGO’S GREAT RESCUE MISSION
DOGS UNDER FIRE
DOG OF THE MILLENNIUM
Copyright
Отрывок из книги
TRUE STORIES OF THE WORLD’S MOST HEROIC DOGS
JOHN McSHANE
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‘That’s it, mate – it’s you and me now. We’re a team,’ thought Cheryl, on arriving home from hospital. Orca went on to complete his training with the CPI, having learnt the 100-plus commands, including ‘take off the jacket’ (unzip it and pull both sleeves off) and ‘foot’ (lift the owner’s foot and put it on a wheelchair footplate). Cheryl then taught him another 44 commands, including hand signals. As she explained: ‘When I was a student in lectures, I needed to be able to communicate with him without talking.’
Years later Orca could open and unload the washing machine, operate the light switch with his paw and open the front door to visitors. Cheryl said: ‘If I’m in a chair, it’s hard for me to reach things on the floor – he picks things up. In the supermarket, he can take things off shelves for me. He can go and get the mobile or landline phone. He even used to be able to put a video in with his nose but that skill doesn’t really transfer to DVDs.’
