Dogs are way smarter than we give them credit for. They protect our homes, our kids and sometimes even our lives.

Emergency Medical Response Dogs (EMRD) are dogs trained to alert and assist their owner in the case of a medical emergency.

They can detect blood sugar changes in a diabetic or even let their owner know that a seizure is coming.

These dogs can be the difference between life and death to their owners and if their dog isn’t on high alert at all times, bad things can happen.

In November 2014, Hailey Ashmore received an Australian Shepard service dog to detect her seizures. Flynn was great at his job and immediately became a valued member of the family.

When she was visiting her dad’s office one day, a stranger stopped and started to pet Flynn. Hailey immediately told them to stop but it was too late. Being a puppy, Flynn was still learning how to ignore strangers and since he was unable to ignore this one he missed the opportunity to tell Hailey that a seizure was coming.

“I thought I had 10 minutes to get safe, take medication and call somebody for help,” she said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t and ended up getting a nasty rug burn.”

Hailey explained that, “since Flynn was only about 7 months at the time of the accident, he was, and still is, learning to ignore people petting him. We understand our dogs are super cute, but they are really important for our safety ad health.” 

The story of Flynn and Hailey illustrates perfectly how important it is to not pet a dog, no matter how cute it is, unless you have the permission of the owner. SHARE the love and pass it on!