RUSTBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – A shelter dog in Campbell County is being praised after she alerted people at an adoption event Saturday that a man was about to have a seizure. Now, the attention she is getting is helping her find a forever home.
The dog, Sienna, was being walked around by a volunteer when she suddenly walked straight up to a man she’d never met.
“Sienna walked over to a man, very deliberately. She had not met him before. She paused, sat down beside him, put her paw on his foot, and just sat there. It was a couple of minutes later she started pawing at his leg, and his wife came around the corner and said, ‘Oh my goodness. This means he’s probably going to have a seizure.’ He had some medical problems, and one of the signs was that he got very still,” said Barbe Shackleford, Director of Friends of Campbell County Animal Control.
The man had a history of seizures, and thanks to Sienna, his wife quickly got him into the car to provide the care he needed.
“She took him straight to the car, where he got some shade, some rest, and some air conditioning. She was amazed. She told our volunteer later that they have three dogs at home, and none of them have ever shown any kind of attention like that before, like a precursor to a seizure,” said Shackleford. “She wanted to make sure that everybody knew what an awesome dog Sienna was, because she has this innate ability to identify when somebody might be having a medical crisis.”
Because the family already has three dogs, they are unable to adopt Sienna, but wanted to share the story in hopes it would help her find a home. Sienna was found as a stray in downtown Altavista and was never claimed. The shelter believes she is 4 or 5 years old and has had multiple litters of puppies. It said it was unclear if she had any medical detection training.
“She’s totally house-trained, which is always amazing anyway, but we have no idea what her training was. Somebody had taught her to sit, they had taught her to give a paw, and then to just sit there nicely. So maybe she had a background in it, we have no idea. I kind of doubt she did or she wouldn’t be running loose,” said Shackleford. “For a stray dog just to show it out of the blue, I think that’s pretty amazing. I know there are dogs that go to training to learn to identify different odors and different electrical pulses in people, but I’ve never seen one do it innately.”
Friends of Campbell County Animal Control is collecting donations to help pay for the dental work Sienna needs. Barbe Shackleford said anyone who adopts Sienna will get a loyal, well-behaved dog that is great with people and other dogs.
Since her heroic moment Saturday, Sienna has already received two applications for adoption, and people have volunteered to cover the cost of her adoption fee. Anyone interested in adopting Sienna or any other animals at the Campbell County Animal Shelter can apply on the Friends of Campbell County Animal Control website.
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