Dog gets help for unconscious owner

• Tweet

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 2 (UPI) -- A dog in Texas saved its owner's life by finding human help after its owner collapsed from a seizure and became unconscious, animal control officers said.

Bear, a 5-year-old German shepherd, tried to rouse its owner, Debbie Zeisler, and then began scratching at neighbors' doors after Zeisler collapsed and hit her head on the front stairs of her house in Millsap, the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram reported Thursday.

Parker County animal control employees Karen Kessler and Terry Pena were nearby on an unrelated call and saw what Bear was doing, the newspaper said.

"Bear just crawled up in my lap while I was sitting in the truck. One of his tags said, 'I am a service dog,' and another said, 'I am a seizure dog, said Kessler, Parker County's animal control supervisor. "We knew there was a problem because service dogs normally don't leave their people."

Because the tag information was outdated, the two began going door to door to find the person they knew must be in distress.

They found Zeisler disoriented and called an ambulance. Bear climbed into the emergency vehicle with its owner, Kessler said.

Bear, adopted from a shelter, isn't formally trained as a service dog, said Zeisler.

"He will follow me to the kitchen to make sure that I take my medicine. Once I feel better, he will go lie down," she said. "I can tell him to go get my pills, and he will get them for me. They might be a little slobbery, but he will get them. He is one incredible dog."