Subtitled True Stories of Great American Dogs, this
compilation will be a pleaser for dog lovers. Everyone
should come to respect MAN'S BEST HERO. Renie Rule, the
daughter of missionaries, as a child fed starving dogs in
Brazil. Having provided a basic chapel to an Arkansas
prison, Rule was granted permission to start a dog
training
scheme using rescue dogs from a local shelter. The inmates
who volunteered had a changed life as they taught dogs to
carry objects, read flashcards and obey commands. These
dogs are now assistance dogs and companions to people who
are disabled, or maimed by war. One lady left prison
having
graduated as a master trainer, and now lives a fulfilling
life.
Patches, a collie/ malamute cross, inherited herding,
problem solving, stubbornness and strength. He needed all
of them when his owner fell into an ice-bound lake at
night
with two seriously injured legs. A stray Boston Terrier
named Stubby, accompanied his solder friends from Yale to
the trenches of France to join in the First World War.
Having been mildly gassed by the noxious mustard gas,
Stubby started warning his companions every time gas was
being released, giving them time to don their gas masks.
He
also warned of incoming shells, sneak attack teams and
other dangers, while the medical corps wanted to adopt him
because he pinpointed wounded men for them and barked
until
aid arrived.
Terrorism produces other heroes. A guide dog named Roselle
calmly led her owner and hundreds of panicking workers
from
the seventy-eighth floor of the World Trade Center through
smoke, water, dust and pitch dark, to the street, and from
there to shelter in a subway as the building collapsed.
An English Setter named Sadie became determined to drag
her
owner home after he suffered a heart attack in the woods.
Again and again I was struck by the loyalty and reasoning
shown by these animals as they did their best to help.
From
a Yorkshire Terrier in the thick of the fighting in New
Guinea, to a therapy dog, and a film star who became a
hero
for real, the powerful stories are excellent dip-into
reading and will delight readers of all ages.
Ace Collins
has produced a tremendous variety in MAN'S BEST HERO and
we
can all learn a lesson or two from these wonderful canine
heroes.
What makes a hero? Sacrifice. Fearlessness. Risking their
lives to save others. The thirteen exceptional dogs in
this
book will amaze and inspire you. These daring rescues and
acts of courage defy logic and illustrate why dogs are
still
the pet of choice in more than 43 million American homes.
A Malamute named Patches who saved a drowning man in
freezing water; a mutt named Lulubelle who jumped in front
of a truck to push a toddler to the curb; a yellow
Labrador
Retriever named Roselle who led office workers in one of
New
York City’s Twin Towers down many flights of darkened
stairs
toward safety on September 11, 2001.
All of the dogs in these stories were in some way
incredibly
special, to their owners and to many others. And each one,
in its own special way, was a hero.
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