He always knows what’s up.

Zoom Room

Meet Enzo

This submission is by Joshua Feldman, whose everyday Hero Dog is Enzo, a Australian Cattle Dog Labrador Mix.

My Dog is My Hero Because…

He played a large part in saving my life.

I have several allergies, both food and environmental, some of which are deadly. When I first rescued Enzo I wanted to train him to be a medical alert service animal. I was never able to fully finish his training because he comes with an anxiety and nervousness that I was not able or qualified to work with. I have just started his training back up with Zoom Room and hopefully will be able to help him overcome his fears.

I won’t explain the story in complete detail because the timeline of the night can become lengthy. Essentially what happened was this. I had ingested a nut which was cooked into the food I was eating. I am deadly allergic to all nuts, so the Anaphylaxis was definite. I was not carrying my Epipen at the time so I had to make the call to try and rush home or go straight to the hospital. I made the wrong decision and choose to rush myself home. I arrived at my house, where only my dog was, and began to approach the front door. Just before I was able to get to the door the full attack hit. My throat started to rapidly close and I started loosing mobility. I barely made it through the front door and immediately collapsed. My Epipen was 8 feet away from me and no matter how hard I tried I could not retrieve it (I wish I had already taught Enzo to retrieve that). As I was rolling in and out of consciousness I could see and hear Enzo running circles around me letting out quick and frantic notification barks. I remember every couple laps around me he would stop and place his paws on my chest. My memory is a little vague since it is in bits and pieces. This next part I do not remember. Somehow I was able to get a phone call out, not sure who I was aiming to call, but I ended up dialing the last number which was my roommate. He says that he couldn’t understand anything on the phone except for Enzo. The way in which Enzo was communicating helped him to identify that something was wrong and the situation had escalated dramatically. He rushed home and was able to get me to the hospital.

That night my life was saved by two people, both of which I consider my best friends.

I have never been that close to death before and I will be forever grateful to the both of them.

Learn more about the Hero Dog Awards.

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