PetFinder.my - how dogs can truly sense when people need them.

A few weeks ago I asked the question - Can dogs sense when a person needs them? 98.2% of you thought that at least some dogs can.

Even more amazing than 98% agreement are the many amazing stories we received.

Today I would like to share one of those stories that show how dogs can truly sense when people need them.

Here is Wendy Young's story of her Golden Retriever "Izabelle" and the man in the wheelchair.

Wendy wrote:

"Yes, dogs do sense when people need them. I have seen it in action with my Golden Retriever "Izabelle" on our therapy visits. When she was just nine months old we went to visit the residents at a nursing home with a therapy dog group. The residents were brought into a room and we took the dogs around to meet them.

Izzy kept trying to make her way over to a gentlemen sitting by the door in a wheelchair. None of the others in our group were paying any attention to him. Finally she just pulled me over to this man. She sat down beside his chair and laid her head in his lap. He tried to pet her but his hands kept shaking, so she gently moved her head on his hands to stop the shaking and just sat there with him for the longest time.

He lowered his head to her ear and kept whispering to her "beautiful baby" he kept repeating that in a whisper over and over to her. I looked up at the nurse standing behind his wheelchair and she had tears in her eyes. It seems this gentlemen had not spoken a word to anyone or anything in the four months he had been in the home. She was so happy that my Izabelle had brought some comfort and joy back into his life. When we went to leave, he touched my hand and thanked me for bringing Izabelle to meet him. She seems to have a gift for knowing the one person who needs her the most when we visit nursing homes."

Thanks Wendy for sharing your story. Stories like these warm my heart.
Dr.Jon