This submission is by Andrea Shipp, whose everyday Hero Dog is Mate, a Rotweiller/ Lab Mix.

My Dog is My Hero Because…

We had just brought our son home from the hospital, as new parents, we
were incredibly cautious in regards to EVERYTHING!  We were pretty sure
that taking a walk around the neighborhood with our dog, Mate, would be a
safe thing to do.  We carefully strapped our son in his stroller and
started our stroll, toward the end of the walk however, a dog escaped
from his front door and charged straight for the stroller with our five
day old son in it.  Mate immediately blocked the dog from the stroller
and prevented him from attacking our son.  The other dog’s owner came
for the dog and we continued on our way home.  From that day on, Mate
slept beside our son and always protected him.  Fast forward three years
and we brought our daughter home from the hospital.  The night we came
home, we noticed Mate wasn’t well, he was throwing up and drooling. We
took him to Aspen Meadow Animal Hospital and we were told he had cancer
of the esophagus, we were told that the best thing to do for him was to
put him to sleep.  We decided to wait until the next morning.  That
night, Mate slept next to our daughter’s crib and watched over her even
though he was up all night sick.  The next day we were forced to put him
down.  There has been a huge void in our hearts since his passing.  He
was a true friend, despite being incredibly sick, he continued to watch
over our children.  Nothing can be more selfless than this!  We have
since adopted another dog, I know Mate is telling her about what an
important job she has, and I know he’s still watching over all of us.

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