"Hero" Cairns?

[Hagar]

Several movies and news items I've seen recently included dogs doing heroic things. That got me wondering if anyone's Cairn has done anything to protect us humans from harm. These are small dogs, so I don't expect to hear that a Cairn rescuied "Timmy from the well" or dragged a child out of the path of a passing truck. But, has anyone's Cairn alerted a family to maybe a fire or other danger?

The closest I can mention personally is several years ago I was walking Renny ( He was right around 1 year old) and we were 7 or 8 blocks from home when a sudden storm front with high winds blew in. As we were walking, suddenly Renny just stopped in his tracks. I stopped to see what had caught his attention just as a fairly large tree limb fell about 10 feet in front of us. The limb would have hit us if we hadn't stopped and was big enough to cause serious injuries if it had hit us.

Similar stories anyone?

[SparkyJonesMom]

I don't have any experiences where one of mine kept my husband or me out of harm's way, but there have been two times that Sparky saved Scout. About a month after we got Scout, she was able to escape our fenced in backyard. We had no idea because we just let the pups out after they ate to roam and play in the back. All of a sudden Sparky runs into the house and starts whining, and you can tell he's trying to tell us something. So I asked him what was wrong, and he immediately ran back outside and showed me where she got out. We were able to get her right back in. Since that was the first time, she was just sitting on the other side of the fence. She was too scared to run off. But there was a second time that she got out (we have since fixed the 2 places that needed it), and Sparky did the same exact thing. My DH checked the same area she escaped from before, but she wasn't there. So DH put the leash on Sparky and took him out the front door. Sparky dragged DH to the opposite side of the house and there was Scout, sitting there like nothing was wrong. It's cute how he looks out for his little sister.

[kjwarnold]

I think I've told this story before, but not in a thread specifically about "hero" Cairns.

DH and I were going on a trip and had a friend watch my first Cairn, Willie. He was probably 7 or 8 at the time. Our friend had a yellow Lab and they got along really well. While we were gone, Willie kept barking under a sofa table at the wall. Our friend kept after him to stop barking but Willie just kept on barking. The friend finally got down on his hands and knees to look under the table to see what Willie was barking at. Seems there was an outlet under there with old wiring and it was sparking. We tease our friend that Willie saved his house and his life, but you know, if could be true. That outlet could have caused a fire and their house could have burned. We think Willie is a hero.

So far, Packy & Kirby haven't exhibited any hero actions, but they're still young.

[pkcrossley]

my dog redmon saved the life of my cat finn. we were visiting my mother at christmas and had taken the cats along. at bedtime we noticed that my cat finn seemed to have disappeared. he is completely black, and we looked literally everywhere for him, but after a great deal of thought and review we decided that he couldn't have got out, and he must be in the house somewhere, probably hiding behind a shelf in the basement or whatever. we thought he would certainly appear for his breakfast, but he did not, and we spent the rest of the day looking for him, emptying every cabinet and attic to try to find him. no luck. the last i had seen him he had run behind a sofa in her sunroom, so we turned the sofa over and looked all over the inside, but no sign of him at all. in the middle of the night i became very worried about this, and began to roam the house, and redmon went along with me. i kept returning to the sunroom, the last place i had seen the cat. i asked redmon, "where's finn?" just in an absent-minded sort of way. redmon kept returning to one end of the couch, and put his nose very firmly against its side, just below the arm. i didn't pay too much attention at first, because we had inspected the couch very carefully and there was no cat under it, behind it, or in it. but redmon stood stock still, with his nose pressed at this particular spot. finally i reached down to where he was pointing, and to my shock there was indeed a warm bulge, cat-sized more or less, just above the bottom of the couch, under the arm. i realized with some panic that somehow or other the cat had got himself trapped against the frame of the couch and the lining that under the linen. i ran to get a kitchen knife and slit the couch liner just below this bulge (sorry mom). my missing cat slipped out and to the floor. so far as i could tell he had been trapped in the tiny space for a day and a half, unable to move, no food, no water, etc etc. we went over the couch more than once, but it was redmon who was able to make the find. he definitely saved a life that day.

cats!