Superdog to the rescue!

We’ve all heard of Lassie. He’s got to be the world’s most famous dog, known for constantly saving the day and getting his owners out of trouble. He is the Superman of the canine world.В  A superhero is defined as a fictional character “of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest”. While we are yet to come across any real-life human superheros, there are numerous true stories of the real-life Lassies, what I think are the “superdogs” of this world.

Take this news story of a dog in Chile who after seeing a dog hit by traffic, risks its life to pull the injured dog out of the way of oncoming traffic. The hero dog doesn’t pick up the injured dog by the teeth, but rather uses its paws to shield the injured pooch and pull him to safety. Check out the video below: it’s some pretty amazing stuff!

In Kenya, a stray dog saved the life of a newborn baby abandoned in a forest. The dog carried the baby from the forest, across a road and through barbed wire, and put the baby down to rest with her litter of puppies.

Then there’s Leo, our own home-grown superdog, who made international headlines after protecting a litter of kittens from a fire. Leo stood guard over a box of kittens, refusing to abandon them, as a fire blazed in the Melbourne home in October last year.В  The heroic pooch had to be resuscitated by firefighters when they arrived on the scene. Check out the video news coverage below:

There are so many amazing stories of superdogs coming to the rescue of those in need and at Dog Diaries we will be bringing more of them to you throughout 2009. Is your dog a real life superdog? Tell us your story in the comment box below!

Sources and further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassie
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24555727-661,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463326,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7792445

Image by islandjoe