Dog Daily News

The best canine news and features, paw-picked by our staff of intrepid news hounds

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Sherman would stop at nothing to find a victim

Today we remember all the humans who died in the 9-11 attacks eight years ago. And being a dog news website, we wish to honor the dogs who helped search for victims. They are our heroes.

We just got late word that Sherman, a search-and-rescue dog who flew from the San Diego area to New York to help after the Sept. 11 attacks, has died. His nickname was “Sherman Tank” because he would stop at nothing to find a victim. He worked for 10 days straight at the World Trade Center site, according to NBC San Diego. You did so much good in your life on Earth, Sherman. We know you’ll be greatly missed.

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Along those olfactory lines, a couple of days ago we wrote about how dogs smell. And we don’t mean the way that makes their people sometimes go “ewwww, you need a bath!” We mean the olfactory way. Today, we bring you a scrumptious story of a dog who smells so much (again, in the non-gross sense) that she’s a hero of sorts.

This could have been Porsche (From Bill Plympton's short animated feature, Guide Dog)

Porsche is a black lab in Philadephia. She was trained as a guide dog, but she used to go around sniffing almost everything, to the point that she flunked certification. It’s probably just as well, because we wouldn’t want to see Porsche dragging her blind person through city streets in pursuit of some delectable scent. That’s sort of like the darkly funny short animation by Bill Plympton. (This film is not as PC as they come, so if you’re easily offended by un-PC material, don’t click the link. Zulu is offended simply because the dog in the film bears a striking resemblance to him in all his high-strung glory.)

So here is Porsche, who lives to smell, and with no job to her name. What to do? “She just can’t stop sniffing – that’s the trait that breaks her [as a seeing-eye dog],” Lt. Art Czajkowski, her handler, told the Philadephia Daily News. “But [the ATF] took this ‘deficiency’ and funneled it into this.”

Exactly what is “this”? It’s an arson dog, specially trained to sniff out fire accelerants like gasoline and kerosene. Porsche, whose nose was her downfall as a guide dog, went on to  become a bonafide member of the Philadelphia Fire Department. In the five years she’s been with the department, she has helped pinpoint the causes of 300 fires. You can see a cute video of her nose at work here.

This week the National Liberty Museum bestowed the honor of Hero Dog on Porsche. It goes to show that what may be a curse in one aspect of life can be a blessing in another. We at Dog Daily News can learn a lot from this devoted dog.

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A very blurry picture of Scooby being rescued

Continuing in the realm of the senses, a deaf Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in Australia somehow got himself lost, and stuck in a cave. He was trapped there for five days before rescuers found him by cutting down trees, moving boulders by the ton, and chopping through rock. (Watch a video of the rescue.)

“It was just so emotional and completely surreal,” Scooby’s person, Melissa Newton, told the Brisbane Times. “We’re just forever grateful to the rescue people.” Scooby, who is 8, was dehydrated but should recover without complications, except perhaps a deep-seated fear of caves.