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A Hero In The Sixth
Sense
 We
all know dogs save drowning people and wake up their family when the house is on fire
but this is a strange story about a dog no one would ever think of as a hero.
And the really strange thing is that it could not have been instinct.
Archie is a Miniature Bull Terrier. He finished
his AKC championship easily and sired two litters wherein his best virtues predominated in a breed
where good bites and shoulder layback are rare. Other than that, he’s just an
ordinary dog. Not particularly bright or inventive, he went nicely around the ring because he’d
seen others do it and like all Mini-Bulls, he’s taking every step I take anyway
so what's the big deal? Standing
on the table was cool because he once bred a bitch there.
He’s always lived in
the kennel but quickly learned how to get up and down the motor home steps
and which crate he should jump in. Archie is a well-mannered dog but like many
Bullies, he's no Rhodes Scholar.
If however, the police, fire department, and press had
been called, you could be watching Archie on Animal Planet. Well wait, that’s
not right. He never would have made the news because he prevented a
tragedy. He did an absolutely uncanny thing and our house didn’t burn down.
I know, you’re thinking so what? He alerted them when
he smelled smoke. No big deal, that’s what dogs do. Well …. yes and no. Here’s
what happened. Archie lives in the kennel. It is roofed but open, with cozy
insulated dog houses. It is 60
feet from the back deck to the kennels. It was chilly and dark and like the
other six dogs, Archie was all snuggled in his
fleecy blankets. I was cooking supper. Well, actually, I was sitting in the
living room watching a newsbreak on the Taliban.
Bill
was down in the equipment shed when he heard Archie howling. Now this is a dog
that has never said a word. Trust me, he doesn’t even bark when a bitch is in
season. Bill "hollered" at Archie and went on trying to get a screw
loose. On the tractor that is. Archie’s howls became louder and that was when
Bill realized that he had never heard Archie bark and even more disturbing, it
wasn't the
mournful or lonely howling-dog-sound we’ve all
heard. This sound was high pitched and frantic.
Bill dropped the ratchet and hurried to the kennel.
Archie continued to howl in the darkness so Bill turned to switch on the kennel
lights and that was when, through the glass wall of the sunroom, he saw me
running to the kitchen. He burst through the door just as I grabbed the handle
of the flaming frying pan. I yelled "get back" and he held the door. I made it out across
the deck and deposited the fireball on the ground!
Archie said nothing. He just watched us. Satisfied. As
we stood there shaken but safe, we realized that the smoke alarm had failed but
Archie had not. And hey folks, there’s a lesson in that!
When we went back inside to open doors and turn on
the exhaust fan, I finally smelled the "smoke" that wasn’t
really smoke. I had lost my sense of smell after a bad case of the flu so
what had alerted me was the nearly-clear haze drifting across the big TV screen. It
still looked like the greasy steam that comes up when you lift a frying pan lid.
What probably prevented an all-out kitchen fire was
that the pan had only a small coating of olive oil. I had turned the burner on
high, turned to chop something, heard the news bulletin and stepped into the
living room, forgetting the pan. So
there was just the steamy oil-smoke, and an acrid metallic smell from the burned metal.
Several things are downright weird here. Archie doesn’t
live in the house. His "den" is his little round igloo in the kennel. So why would instinct have kicked in and caused him to panic
about our safety?
 Fire-alert behavior is understandable in a house-dog because
a forest fire instinctively drives wild dogs out of the den, propels them to
alert pack members and take cubs to safety. When a house-dog alerts a sleeping
family and urges them to flee a burning house, it’s no big deal. They are
doing what their ancestors have done for thousands of years.
What’s amazing
here is that Archie was perfectly safe in the kennel and although he loves us,
his "pack" has always consisted of whoever was in the kennel. But
there’s more.
While all animals instinctively fear the smoke smell
and will run from it long before they see a forest fire, when had this little
Mini-Bull ever
smelled burning metal? Why wouldn’t he have associated the oil smell with cooking? He’s been in the house enough to know that smell!
There was no burning forest, not even wood, paper or fabric smoke, any of which
might have triggered the instinct to flee. He must have identified the airborne
molecules of metal as a danger. It is also noteworthy that our house dogs were all snoozing while the frying pan flamed! Not
saying they are used to me burning stuff….. What I am saying is that only
Archie, outside curled up in his house, in his fleecy blankie, sensed something was WRONG!
Yep, he’s a hero. He got the chicken I had intended
to fry. Today he ran errands with Bill. Tomorrow he’s going to check on
a job site and through all this attention, he’s "just Archie." A
modest, happy, typical Miniature Bull Terrier that never barks.
What a great Christmas present. He gave us a house!
Barbara "BJ" Andrews
reprint courtesy ShowSight Magazine December 2001
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