Pam Barnes says her dog Maggie has always been there for her, but she had no idea Maggie would end up helping save a neighbor in need.
On Sunday, Nov. 21, Barnes had to go to the Valley and left Maggie, a 13-year-old vizsla, with a friend.
“My dog is very special to me as she says ‘I wuv you’ and is very talkative,” Barnes said.
Later in the day, that friend let Maggie out in her front yard to play.
Moments later, she heard Maggie barking nonstop. She went outside and called for her, but Maggie would not come. The woman walked outside and realized her neighbor was out front and was having trouble breathing.
Maggie, all the while, had stayed next to the man, barking to alert someone of the man’s distress. The man asked the dog sitter to call for help. He was trying to get to the hospital, but couldn’t get there on his own.
Paramedics arrived and took the man to the hospital.
“I call my dog Maggie a hero because she helped save a life,” Barnes said.
Maggie alerts Barnes when strangers walk by and has a different tone for people she knows.
Barnes said Maggie has never alerted her to any other emergency, so helping the stricken neighbor was a first.
Maggie was Barnes’ next-door neighbor’s dog first, but she visited every day as a puppy. She was untrained, so Barnes trained her. Eventually the neighbor gave Maggie to Barnes.
“I have lived in Payson since 1989. Before that I lived in Phoenix. My parents brought me to camp at Christopher Creek from the time I was 5. I always wanted to live here, so my husband and I moved here to raise our children and we bought a house in 1992. Now my grandkids get to enjoy having Maggie around as a playmate and friend,” Barnes said.