Dog Daily News

"Yep, I'm a hero! Hey, where's everybody going?" (Photo: Beltsville, MD Fire Department)

The dog on the left is named Monster. Monster is a fine name for a brutish dog, but this dog is no brute. He is a hero. This morning, according to NBC Washington, the six-year-old Doberman was outside when fire erupted at his Beltsville, Md., home.  Monster starting barking furiously, and jumping on a sliding glass door. His human family members awoke, and were alert enough that when the smoke alarm kicked in, they knew to high tail it out of there.

The house’s three adults and five children escaped without injury, thanks in big part to a dog with a bad name. With $250,000 of fire damage to their home, we imagine they’ll be looking for temporary digs elsewhere. We hope they don’t forget Monster when they go looking. They need to find a dog-friendly place, and not send him to a shelter, as so many people end up doing after disasters like this. (And we’re not thrilled that Monster was probably spending the night outside, either, but we’re city dogs with a definite cultural bias toward sleeping indoors.)

We also think his people should tweak his name just a little, to reflect the fact that he’s not a creep. It needs to sound like Monster, so he still recognizes it.  Alas, nothing rhymes with Monster. And Mobster is just as bad. Send your ideas our way, and we’ll see if we can get them to Monster’s family. Let’s get this dog a more fitting moniker! (Hey, maybe  his name should be Moniker! OK, my staffers are rolling their eyes. Never mind..)