Four-Legged Heroes

I love animals. The three semi-worthless ankle-biters that greet me with reckless hysteria every night are proof of that. So it’s only natural for one of the heroes in the first book of my romantic suspense series to be a dog.

A German Shepherd dog on a mountain. Română: U...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dillon is a German shepherd, trained as a guard dog, and he takes his job very seriously. For the most part, he’s a one-man dog, preferring to be constantly beside his owner who happens to be the story’s other hero. That is, until the heroine shows up and steals his heart. Then, like any good hero, Dillon goes for the girl!

A dog trainer once told me dogs have the mentality of a three year old. As I look around at my little guys…yeah, I can buy that. But what about all the heroic stories we hear? The pit bull that took three bullets chasing an armed intruder out of his owners’ home. The German shepherd who dragged a woman from her wrecked car to a spot where other motorists could find her. Another German shepherd who ran door to door looking for help for his owner who had fallen and hit her head on the steps.

A few years ago, I had a roommate with a Rottweiler named Shorty. One night he wouldn’t take no for an answer and finally got her full attention to let her know the barn was on fire. We were able to save the horse and alert the fire department before the fire spread to our five hundred gallon propane tank. Sadly, we lost my daughter’s 4-H rabbits that night, but it could have been so much worse. 

English: A photograph of a German Shepherd Dog
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My question is, how does the canine equivalent of a three-year-old reason through a problem, decide if it’s good or bad, come up with a solution and stick to it until the desired outcome is achieved? Most of the time I can’t even perform that well, so I’m prepared to give dogs way more credit than whoever came up with the three-year-old theory.

Maybe the answer is simple—love. A love that transcends understanding can do all things. Dogs are the ultimate in unconditional love. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when it manifests in heroic ways.

Thanks to the magic of fiction, Dillon gets his shot at being a hero. Anyone else have a four-legged hero friend?

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