Kiki is a 9-year-old bulldog. She’s not much of a barker, but she's definitely a talker.
She’s known by everyone in the neighborhood, she's been chatting them up for years. A few folks complained about how loudly she talks, but then would always say “but thankfully she isn’t a barker.” They mostly thought her vocalizations were weird, but also comical.
Kiki’s human mom, Audra, called me a few weeks ago. She said one of her neighbors, an elderly man named Charlie, was taken to the hospital. Now, Charlie and Kiki had become such good buds over the years that Charlie cut a hole through the fence and added a dog door to his kitchen just so Kiki could come over to visit whenever she wanted. Charlie had no animal companions and told Audra that he really enjoyed Kiki visiting.
She went on to explain that on the day of Charlie’s medical emergency, she’d done an early morning run to the grocery store. It was still dark when she returned (about 7:00 am), and as she pulled into her driveway she noticed Charlie’s front door was open. That was odd, so she quickly put the perishables away then ran next door.
Kiki was already there, along with three other neighbors - and an ambulance was on its way. Then she got more of the story. The other neighbors had been brought to Charlie’s house by Kiki!
Apparently, Kiki was in Charlie's house with him when he collapsed. He had gone out to get the mail, he felt suddenly ill on his way back to the house, and collapsed inside near the sofa. Kiki took advantage of the open door and went to get help.
She ran across the street and talked up a storm at Elsie’s front door. She heard him, but she didn’t have her shoes on and was not ready to engage so early in the morning. So, Kiki ran a few doors down to Greta and John’s house, again talking up a storm. She notched it up to yelping and leaping – which they recognized was odd behavior for her, so they paid attention. They grabbed their coats and followed her to Charlie’s house.
By the time Audra walked in to Charlie’s house, Gretta and John were there. And Elsie, too. (She heard more commotion and decided to venture out.) They told her the ambulance was on the way.
When the emergency responders arrived, they thought Kiki was Charlie’s dog by how attentive she was to him, and how much effort she’d made to get him help. In fact, they thought Audra was another concerned neighbor. Kiki even leaped up onto the stretcher with Charlie, thinking she should go to the hospital with him.
Fortunately, Charlie recovered. It was a respiratory and cardiac incident – one that could have easily killed him had he not received medical care so quickly. Now all the neighbors are talking about Kiki and how she alerted them. She saved Charlie's life!
Now that Charlie is back home, he and Kiki are spending lots of time together again. I expect that will continue on for many years to come.