Smart Dog Saves 83-Year-Old Owner

April 8, 2001 London, Ontario, Canada

Do you remember that episode of Lassie, where the kid says, "Lassie, go get help!", and the dog somehow manages to return with the U.S. Marine Corps?  (Come to think of it, that happened in every episode.)

Well, Andriette the miniature poodle must have been taking notes, because she didn't do so bad herself.

Late last week, Andriette's 83-year-old owner Jean Pitts was shaking out a rug when she lost her balance and fell down a flight of stairs, fracturing her ribs.

Andriette, a 3-year-old scruffy pooch, immediately ran to her owner's side and started whimpering, but Ms. Pitts was in such excruciating pain that she couldn't even move.

Thinking fast, Andriette ran off down the street yipping.  The first person she encountered was Lori Vanden Boomen, a day-care operator who happened to be outside with some children at the time.

Ms. Vanden Boomen describes: "The little dog came up to us and was barking like crazy at us and then she ran away.  Then she came back, still barking and then she ran away again.

"Finally, I realized something was wrong."

She followed the dog back to Ms. Pitts's house, where she found Ms. Pitts at the base of the steps "in terrible pain".  She quickly called an ambulance, and within minutes the elderly woman was in the care of physicians.

"Andriette is such a good girl," Ms. Pitts said later, recovering in a hospital. "She really saved the day."

Said Ms. Vanden Boomen, "That little dog is a hero."

Hey, isn't that what they always said at the end of Lassie?

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