Not only are these men and women incredibly brave, but they’ll do everything they can to try to help their neighbors and friends.

But when you think of what a member of the Marine Corps looks like, very rarely does your mind paint a picture of a four-legged furry dog running in the middle of a battle zone. This dog named Rico is incredible and brave, and is willing to do everything he can to help his friends!

https://www.facebook.com/WRALTV/videos/10155041471687178/

Rico was a dog that served two full tours in Afghanistan. He survived over 30 firefights with terrorists and did everything he could to make sure his wartime partner, Marine Staff Sgt. Russ Beckley Jr., always remained safe and sound.

After the duo came home from war, Rico stayed with the family, but after 12 long and love-filled years, it became clear that as brave and powerful as Rico was, his body was slowly getting older and slower. It was time for Rico to pass on to the next world.

Beckley and his fellow Marine father dressed in their blues and gave Rico a proper burial deserving of a true hero. Dozens of people came to the funeral, and as Beckley began his farewell speech, he somehow managed to keep himself from breaking down into tears.

Rico might be gone from Earth, but he’ll never be forgotten for his love and service to our country. Thank you, Rico!

The post A Little Hero Dog Died, Then 2 Marines Grab His Tiny Casket And Bring Him Home appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

“We were outside with my telescope, looking at Jupiter with my next door neighbor,” neighbor Chip Dover told TODAY Parents. “We were getting ready to come in when we heard a big explosion, and the house just blew up. We ran over there immediately and it was burning like crazy, and then we realized the family was still inside.”

Using furniture on the porch, they broke the front windows of the Longwood, Florida home belonging to military veterans Margo and Brent Feaser.

“One of the neighbors saw an occupant in one of the rooms and picked up a table and smashed through the window, all the windows acutally, and pulled the woman to safety,” Seminole Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma told News 13.

“The employee [Margo, an auto theft investigator], when she initially came out, her primary concern was to get back inside and rescue her children. She is an absolute trouper. She is a hero within our organization, and her actions tonight demonstrated that behavior.”

Firefighters arrived moments later and pulled Brent to safety.  But his four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter were still inside, along with Maxx.  The heroic dog led firefighters through the smothering smoke to the children’s bedroom.

All of the family members, including Maxx, were taken to various hospitals for treatment of their serious to critical conditions, but all are expected to recover.

“We are grateful to the neighbors who jumped into action, and we especially thank the firefighters who selflessly entered the burning structure and risked their lives for the Feaser family,” said Sheriff Don Eslinger.

“There is a long road of recovery and rebuilding ahead, but our Sheriff’s Office family will be with Margo and her family every step of the way. We know our community is behind them too, and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of support the family has received.”

A fundraiser has been set up to help the Feaser family cover their medical costs and find a new home.  If you would like to donate, please click here.

Checks and money orders may be made out to “Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Employee Benevolent Fund” and sent to 100 Bush Boulevard, Sanford, FL 32773, attention: “Feaser Family Fund.” Anyone with questions is asked to call 407-665-6880.

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The house, located at 1883 NW 83 Terrace en West Little River, Miami, was not equipped with smoke detectors or fire alarms. If it wasn’t for the heroic dog, the residents would have died.

The pet owners say everything happened very fast. They had little time to think and were scared for their lives. Once the humans were safe outside the home they realized they forgot to save their hero’s life.

Fortunately firefighters arrived on the property, controlled the fire and save the little hero.

No one suffered any injuries

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“I was 20 weeks pregnant and had been so unwell for weeks, I couldn’t walk… and I hadn’t kept anything down for weeks,” Alhanna said in a post on Facebook (which is no longer available).

“Doctors put it down to me being so small and my spine not being able to manage with the extra weight well and just normal pregnancy symptoms but Keola wouldn’t leave my side.”

When Alhanna got ready for work, Keola insistently nudged her, and would not stop barking and whining.

Upon her return home, “Keola looked so sad and I knew something was bothering her. She just sat there staring at me and wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone.”

Unable to ignore Keola’s desperate signals, Alhanna went to the hospital, and fainted as soon as she began walking down the corridor.  She was rushed to the ICU, where she faded in and out of consciousness while on morphine.

“Turns out my backache was due to a double kidney infection and because it was untreated for so long it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen.”

https://www.facebook.com/alhanna.butler/videos/10204721652029654/

“On top of that I had an antibiotic resistant bug that had only ever affected one other person in the UK. It was killing me and the doctors told me if I had left it any longer I would have died and more than likely my son also.”

Alhanna and her son, who was named Lincoln, are alive and well, thanks to Keola.  She absolutely adores her new little brother, and has happily taken on the role of his nanny.

“She is our hero, his guardian angel and we will forever be in her debt.”

The post Dog Who Friends Said to Ditch Saves Pregnant Woman & Unborn Baby appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

When Nicole Siekert woke up Thursday morning feeling under the weather, she took note of it, but pressed on with her day.  She got on with getting the kids ready for school, and keeping things on track.  However, for whatever reason, everyone just seemed to feel not quite right.

“We were all just kind of out of sorts when we woke up,” Siekert said.

The family knew their furnace was on the fritz, but they didn’t really think too much about it.  Siekert decided to lay down for a second, fearing the possible flu that could be on the way.  It didn’t take long for Abby to try to get her human mom’s attention, but she just couldn’t seem to grab it.

“She just jumped up on the bed, and she was nudging me and pawing at me.  She took her head and lifted up my head with her nose,” Siekert said.

She got out of bed and went to let Abby outside, assuming that was what she wanted.  However, when they walked towards the door, the dog turned and walked downstairs and sat next to the furnace.  When Siekert went into the basement, she could clearly hear the carbon monoxide detector going off.  That’s when she put two and two together.

“It was like a flash,” said Siekert. “Everything just came together, and it made sense.”

Siekert then got her family to safety, and the furnace has since been fixed.  But none of that would have at all been possible with Abby, and her keen sense of hearing!  That makes Abby a hero in our book!

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Matkea and her husband Butch spend most of the Canadian winters in their second home in Wickenburg, Arizona. There, the couple tend to a small stable of horses and frequently go off on 6 mile long horseback riding trips. Their dog who is high energy and loves the exercise always tags along.

On Jan. 10, the pet owner got ready to go riding along a dry river bed about 500 yards from her home and Becky-Jo jogged next to her. The trail was an usual one but Matkea’s horse got spooked and threw her onto the floor leaving her unconscious.

“We’re assuming [the horse got] spooked at something,” the woman told CBC News. “It also appears from my injuries and from the marks down in the desert that I was probably dragged for about a quarter mile, and then the stirrup ended up coming apart and that’s how I broke free.”

When Becky-Jo realized her owner was injured she rushed back home to alert Butch of the accident.

“My dog arrived home and she was acting very odd, so my husband and my neighbor jumped on the four-wheelers and she literally led them to where I was in the desert,” said Matkea.

The men found the rider lying on rocks and covered in cuts and bruises. Immediately, the woman was airlifted to an area hospital where doctors said she could have bleed out if she was left unattended on the desert a few more minutes.

Matkea was treated for a major concussion, a broken facial bone, severe facial and scalp lacerations, and a severed head artery. Today she is recovering back home while her loyal dog keeps her company. At the same time, Becky-Jo wonders when will be the next time the two of them will go out and ride horses.

Doctors says the woman will make a full recovery, but Becky-Jo will have to wait a little longer before heading out with Matkea on their next horse riding adventure.

The post Dog Saves Owner After Almost Fatal Horseback Riding Accident appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

The video, captured by a police car’s dash camera, shows when a police officer makes a traffic stop and asks the driver to step out of the vehicle. The officer approaches the suspect with his K-9 partner, but after determining the suspect does not represent any danger, he orders his K-9 partner to stand down, while he approaches the man alone.

However, the four-legged officer knows the driver is up to no good, and as soon as his human partner starts approaching the man, the dog barks notifying the officer something is wrong.

The police man keeps telling his partner to stand down and the driver even taunts the dog as if saying “I’m not going to do anything,” but out of a sudden the driver tries to subdue the officer. In that same instant, the dog jumps, bites the man and puts an end to the driver’s malicious intentions.

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Foster mom Ashley Shuckerow told WKYC News the on that Thursday morning, the dog was not acting like her usual self and was making “a lot of racket.” Shuckerow went to investigate what was wrong with the dog and when she went to the home’s lower level, the woman realized the house was extremely cold. The furnace had malfunctioned.

A repairman was called to check on the furnace and it was him who told the Shuckerows they wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Dulce’s trained nose.

“The guy said the carbon monoxide [was] probably flowing into our house,” said Shuckerow, “[Dulce] sensed it long before we ever would have.”

The furnace was replaced and all family members and dogs residing in the house are no longer in any danger.

Shuckerow says that because Dulce is deaf, her remaining senses are stronger. It was that special quality in Dulce that saved their lives.

If you want to give Dulce a permanent home, contact Mercy’s Door Pet Rescue and give Dulce what she has been longing for – a home of her own.

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According to Fox News, Orange County Police Officer Chris Bisceglia, returned to the area where the dogs were last seen earlier in the day. The officer was worried that with expected freezing temperatures, the dogs wouldn’t survive the night out in the open.

When Bisceglia arrived, he spotted five-year-old Jock. He was barking frantically as if telling the officer he needed his help. On a hunch and determined to rescue the dogs, Bisceglia followed Jock down a 30-foot embankment and found Annabelle entangled in the brush and bleeding.

Local fire department and animal control were called to rescue Annabelle. Meanwhile, Jock watched and waited for his sister from a safe distance.

The post Dog Leads Rescuers to His Injured and Trapped Dog Sister appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

Olivia was fighting a high fever and stayed home from school to sleep off the virus. Her mom Amanda Goodman was watching over her, and while she did some house work she left the young girl asleep on the living room couch. Baxter stayed behind to keep Olivia company.

A few moments later Amanda heard the dog barking non-stop, she kept telling Baxter from another room to quit his barking, but the dog just kept on barking along. It seemed Baxter had something to say and Amanda went back into the living room to see what the pet wanted.

When she walked in the room Amanda found her daughter unconscious. The little girl was experiencing a seizure and because she was lying face up, her mouth filled with vomit. Olivia was drowning. Thankfully, Amanda was able to roll her daughter over and clear her airway. Goodman then rushed her daughter to a nearby hospital.

Thanks to Baxter and his loyalty to his family, Olivia is alive and well today.

Once Olivia was released from the hospital she returned home. Baxter assumed his position as head nurse/alert dog and never leaves Olivia’s side.

Baxter, you are one amazing dog!

The post Golden Retriever Saves Six-Year-Old Girl from Dying appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

The heroine’s homecoming is bittersweet for Phil Ledford, whose brother’s life was tragically claimed by the February 5th fire that ravaged his Ohio house.

“It’ll be tough in that sense, seeing Carmen every day, because she will remind me of Ben,” Phil told CNN affiliate WCPO.  “But it’ll be like having a piece of him around.”

First responders said they found Carmen on top of Ben Ledford, blocking his face from the heat and smoke that were taking their toll on both of them.  Ben was taken to a hospital, where he later died.  Carmen was brought to Care Center Vets in Cincinnati.

A fundraiser was launched and donations began pouring in for the medical treatment of this brave and loyal dog.  Over $29,000 has been sent in.

She was suffering from severe lung damage due to smoke inhalation, according to Dr. Daniel Carey.  She was kept sedated, but she responded well to the family’s visits.  They kept them short, however, so she could save up all her energy for physical therapy, which she needs to help her walk again.

Over the weekend Carmen was taken off oxygen support and was eating on her own.  On Monday, Phil and family brought her home.

“We still cannot find the words to truly express how much we appreciate the support we’ve received from everyone for Ben, the family and for Carmen,” the fundraiser page says.  “If it hadn’t been for the vet who rescued Carmen, the Care Center and the support and donations from friends, family and pet lovers from around the world, we would not have been able to provide Carmen with the level of care that has allowed her to walk out of the hospital today.”

CARMEN UPDATE: A very happy day today for Carmen at Care Center. Carmen was able to go home tonight to be with her family! We will all miss her sweet, loving face (and kisses), but we are so glad she is able to be home with her family tonight.

Our Critical Care Specialist was able to take Carmen off oxygen support this past weekend. Now, she has been eating on her own and she continues to gain strength through her rehabilitation. She will need to come back to have a few re-check appointments with our Specialist as she continues to heal and recover, but she is now strong enough to continue her road to recovery at home. Thank you to everyone for being a part of her recovery, her healing, and her journey home.

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