Bridget was brought to an animal shelter with her eight puppies because her owner could not find homes for them. Her owner gave the mother dog away because she had no need for her, and to help with the puppies. She did not want her back.
Immediately the dogs were checked for diseases, then placed in a pen. The mother dog was named Bridget, an unwanted dog who would someday become a hero.
Bridget seemed awfully alert. She watched everyone that went by, licking customer's hands as they reached through the bars to pet her; the slightest sound could make her alert, and this was what one of the animal shelter staff was looking for: a dog who was very alert.
She called the PPPP, a prison organization for training dogs. The dogs would be given to prisoners to train, so that they might have something to do. PPPP was looking for seizure-alery dogs--these dogs were very valuable in that they could sense when a human was about to have a seizure up to twenty minutes before it happen. You see, people with seizures tend to move around uncontrollably with jerky movements. Because they have absolutely no warning as to when a seizure will happen, they often jerk so much that they seriously injure themselves on things such as tables or other hard objects. If they are able to lie down and wait for the seizure, they do not get a hurt, and it is this that seizure-alert dogs do--they warn people prior to a seizure so that the person may lay down and wait for it to come. Scientists say that these dogs are so sensitive, they can sense a change in air pressure and perhaps changes of the human body, and therefore can warn their masters of an oncoming seizure. Unfortunately, this cannot be taught to the dog, but rather the dog inherits that ability, and so there are very, very few seizure-alert dogs and a very, very long waiting line of people. Perhaps Bridget would become a seizure-alert dog.
The staff member had Bridget spayed and sent to the PPPP. She was given to a woman named Sally (not her real name) to be trained, and to see if Bridget could really sense seizures, because Sally was among the many that are prone to seizures. Sally loved Bridget, and she took good care of her. One day Bridget began acting very weird and barking in a tone she never used before. Sally believed it to be a warning of an oncoming seizure. She laid down in a safe place. Sure enough, a few minutes later she had a seizure.
And so Bridget was a seizure-alert dog, a very valuable dog in deed.
Miles away, a man was in his home watching television with his wife when he saw a commercial about seizure-alert dogs. Because he had about four to five seizures a month, and no warning of their coming, he decided to call the number on the screen and ask for one. He was told that he would have to be added to the waiting list, because there were already others awaiting a seizure-alert dog. The man agreed, and went on with living, waiting for a seizure-alert dog.
One and a half years later, the man was phoned by PPPP. "We have the dog for you," they said. "Please come down to meet her."
And so he did. When Bridget walked into the room, she went right over to the man and sat down beside him, as if she knew immediately that he was her master, the one to take her home. The meeting worked out, and it was arranged for Bridget to go home with the man. Although Sally was sad to see her go, she was happy that Bridget was going to a good home where she would be properly cared for.
And so started Bridget's heroic life. One day, when in the home of the man, she jumped up on him and pushed her nose under the newspaper he was reading. The man was inclined to lay down. He then had a seizure.
On Thanksgiving Day, the man went to his sister's house to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. Bridget went along, and happily played with the youngsters. When it was time to go home, Bridget did not want to go. She barked in a tone she never used, spinning in circles, and refused to leave the house. Her master scolded her, and took her into the car. He figured she simply did not want to leave. About a block down the road, the man had a seizure, and it was then that they realized what Bridget had been trying to do.
Now, Bridget is a happy dog in a happy family. Her master can go wherever he wants, because when he is in a car, he will not wreck, and when he is in a restaurant or store, he will not be embarrassed by his seizure, but can rather quietly slip into the bathroom and have it there. He takes Bridget everywhere, and she has qualified to be a working dog. She wears a pack on her back that reads on the sides, "Don't pet me, I'm working." When told Bridget cannot enter a store, her master simply pulls the dog's I.D. from her pack and they are let through.
And so ends the story of a shelter dog--homeless and helpless--who became a hero in the end.
