Buddy the dog saves owner's home from fire

A German Shepherd named Buddy saved his owner's home by guiding emergency services to the blazing building.

Published: 5:32PM BST 24 Apr 2010

The dog was in the workshop at the Alaskan home of his owner, Ben Heinrichs, when a spark from the truck he was working on ignited Mr Heinrichs' clothes.

Mr Heinrichs, 23, ran out as the fire grew and told Buddy: "We need to get help."

The dog then ran out, finding Alaskan Trooper Terrence Shanigan at a crossroads, and guided him to the blaze at their home in Caswell Lakes.

Trooper Shanigan was working with rescuers to find the property in an area with about 75 miles of back roads, but their GPS systems were unable to locate the house.

"Buddy was able to connect with me, giving me a lot of non-verbal cues, kind of loping, and wanting me to speed up at times," Trooper Shanigan said.

"And when I finally pulled in, Buddy greeted me at the driver's side door and kind of nudged me towards the house. It was surreal," the Trooper told reporters.

The event was recorded by the video camera inside the patrol car, and shows Buddy occasionally looking back at the car as he raced ahead, galloping around three turns before arriving in front of the blaze, which was very close to the Heinrichs' home

The workshop was destroyed and a shed was heavily damaged, but they managed to save the house and only the window trimming was scorched.

His owners said they had known he was clever since they first took him as a six-week-old puppy, and added that he was also brave, having twice chased bears away when Mr Heinrichs was fishing.

The dog will be presented with a silver-plated dog bowl next week in recognition of his work.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7629183/Buddy-the-dog-saves-owners-home-from-fire.html