Dog honoured for helping save owner's life

Lassie has nothing on Yogi, a golden retriever credited with saving his owner's life after a serious cycling accident near Lake Travis. On Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States recognized Yogi as the 2011 Valor Dog of the Year for leading neighbours to where Paul Horton lay paralyzed after flipping off his mountain bike. 58-year-old Horton had taken Yogi along last October as he rode trails near his home on a hill not far from Windy Point. As Horton jumped a kerb on his bike, disaster struck. "I'm sure I've done it 100 times, but this time my front wheel stopped, and I went over the handlebars and landed on my head," Horton said.



He wasn't wearing a helmet, but doctors told him that probably wouldn't have prevented his spinal injuries. Horton was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he couldn't move and was bleeding from the nose and mouth. Yogi was at his side. For the next 45 minutes, Horton pleaded with the 85-pound dog to go home and get help. Yogi didn't want to leave. Horton couldn't yell, and he was out of sight of passers-by, about 100 feet from a dead-end street. Finally, Yogi headed back to the main road, where Horton's neighbours Bruce and Maggie Tate were walking. The normally mellow dog barked frantically. The Tates knew something was wrong and followed Yogi to Horton. There, Yogi stood protectively by his friend.

"It's pretty amazing that Yogi first stayed with Paul when he needed to, then recognized us and came to get us," Bruce Tate said. "Paul was in desperate shape. He wasn't in a place where there's a lot of traffic." Horton was transported to St. David's Round Rock Medical Center, where doctors determined that his vertebrae had shifted, pinching his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the chest down. They operated to relieve pressure and stabilize his spine. Horton spent four nights there, then moved to St. David's Rehabilitation Hospital, where he stayed for two months. His wife, Shearon, brought Yogi to visit several times. "The dog alerting his neighbour was instrumental in getting him to a hospital and preventing his choking to death or going into shock," said Dr. Juan LaTorre. "He might not have survived if he hadn't been found until the next day."


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"It takes a very unique and special dog to do what Yogi did," said Nicole Paquette, Texas senior state director of the Humane Society. "He obviously has a true bond with Paul, and it just demonstrates how close we are to our companion animals and how much we need them." Yogi, Horton said, acts differently since the accident. "He stays within sight of me in the house. If I change rooms, he changes rooms. If I move over five feet, he moves over five feet," he said. Horton remains paralyzed but has regained some sensation in his abdomen, legs and back. He has limited use of his arms and hands. He's also learned that he has arthritis and leukemia.