Choking toddler saved by babysitter's parrot

Oh, I have a couple!
A few years ago, my parents' coffee pot malfunctioned very early of a morning and started smoking. My brother's black manx cat, Sproom, went to my parents' room and pounced on Mom. He was prone to playing a bit rough with Mom, such as blood-drawing swats while hiding on a bookshelf or under the bed, but she knew this was different. He would yowl, pounce, run to the doorway, repeat. The coffee pot wasn't smoking enough yet to set off the smoke alarms, but Sproom was always picky about smells. This was learned the hard way when Dad tried mopping the floor with pine-scented cleaner. Sproom passed away this summer at the age of 20.
My parents lived in the same "country" neighborhood from the time I was 3/my brother was 3 months old until I was 38. By the time my brother turned 2, there were still only a dozen or so houses there. Dad was in the front yard talking to a new neighbor, when my brother toddled off. Bro considered it a game when Dad came after him so he started running. We all know how amazingly fast toddlers can be.
Brother had put a bit of distance between himself and Dad, but no traffic, no problems, right? A pair of Boxers had gotten out of their fence, caught sight of my brother, and must have been thinking "Food!". A neighbor's dog, Seamore, a Shepherd/Collie mix living a few houses between us and the Boxers' family, looked up, jumped off his porch, and put himself between my brother and the other dogs. Seamore was no fool, so he backed his behind against my brother and started walking backwards. Dad scooped up my brother and handed him off to the neighbor because the Boxers jumped Seamore. He held his own without Dad's help, though.
Dad grilled Seamore a steak for dinner. Months later when his family decided they couldn't afford to feed him any longer and was going to take him to the pound, he became our dog. He took up residence on our porch, seeming to know that was where he belonged from then on.

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Call me nuts, but I think my ooooold dog (he was about 14) knew I was going to need some help when I went into labor two months prematurely! At around midnight he started barking and that's what woke me up, so I laid there in bed, annoyed that back wouldn't stop spasming (back labor, duh, Melissa, lol). But you know, that dog kept barking and barking, and my mom came to the back of the house (where my room is) to see what was going on, and to quiet him down. She got back there and as I sat up, my water broke! I told her "Oh my God, I'm in labor, and Ollie was trying to tell you!"
That little dog saved me (and my daughter) by warning my mom (I was in so much pain, and she never would have heard ME) to get back there and help me! He's passed away now (when my daughter was 5 months old), but he was the best dog ever, I will never forget what he did. Animals know much more then people give them credit for.

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One of my cats ripped apart my boxspring while I was in bed, in pre-term labour. My son was born 2 months early anyway (healthy and safe, and 4 now) I think she wanted to give me a safe place to have my kitten. Hehehe

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I had three toy poodles that loved to nap with my husband who was a diabetic. There were several times that they would wake him by digging gently (and sometimes not so gently) on his chest and licking his face. Everytime this happened, he would wake groggy and know the feeling of low blood sugar. Sure enough, his sugar would be dangerously low! These dogs saved his life several times. The dogs are still with me, but unfortunately my husband died of a heart attack seven years ago...again, the dogs tried their best to save him...they gathered around when it was happening and licked his face as if telling him he'd be ok...RIP, John!

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Twenty years ago, when my older daughter was a year old, she loved to sit in her walker and roam around the house. (I don't think they even make those anymore!) Anyway, I left the room she was in to put away laundry. All of a sudden I heard my yellow naped Amazon parrot start screaming, "Help, help, help, help, help...." I went running back into the room and found my daughter in her walker, close by his cage. But she had gotton both legs caught in one leg hole of the walker. She was sinking down into the walker and was stuck! She was struggling and the parrot called for help. I was amazed back then, and I still feel that way today. She always refers to him as her "big brother", and I know he was looking out for her.

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Just last night, while walking the dogs after dark, my daughter slipped and fell in the lake. Before my Ex Husband could even finish the thought of what had just happened, "Hank" our Chocolate Lab, had already jumped in after her and towed her back to shore. Amazing.

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melissa, with my first child my fiance had a great dane that eould lay on the bed with me and no one by no one was allowed to come near me if he was there. My husabnd came home to say hello and the dog bit him while I was sleeping the dog would lay next to me wwith his body near the baby. When the baby was born he followed him arouend and would keep him from going up the stairs by tigging his tee shirt orhe once pulled him back from falling out the door by puling his tee shirt back ... certain people he did not like to hold him, he would guard him and sit there the whole time. Dogs/pets are our angels!!

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I was 7 months pregnant and close to having mine to melissa. I think our pets are wonderful!!!

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Here's a story about a 3-pound BLIND cat who saved his owner from a man who broke into her apartment (into her bedroom!) in the middle of the night! It's the most INCREDIBLE pet story I've ever read:

http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=24775

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I absolutely LOVE these many stories about our animal companions. They are so much a part of us and our families, it's impossible to discriminate against them as another species! When I had a mental breakdown one feverish night, by little bichon, Michelle, stayed with me through my delirium, providing the only anchor to reality that I had for several hours. I never forgot her steadfastness in the wake of my craziness.

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Thanks for sharing all of the wonderful stories, pets are awesome.

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LOLLY THAT IS TO FUNNY!! OUR BLUE HEELER HAS THE TATLETALE BARKS TO WHEN HE THINK I DO NOT HEAR THE KIDS COME IN AND OUT..HE THINKS HE IS THE DOG POLICE I ALWAYS SAY! HE HAS THE DIFFERENT BARKS TOO!!

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AME S ..MY MOM HAS A COLIE HE IS 12 NOW.. WE ALWAYS HAD COLLIES AND THEY CAN BE VERY PROTECTIVE TOO, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE MILD NATURED. WE ALWAYS HAD THEM . WE HAD ONE WHEN I WAS SMALL THAT WOULD GO TO ALL OUR BEDS AT NIGHT AND CHECK US AND THEN GO TO BED HERSELF. SHE WOULD GO TO EACH BED AND SAY GOODNIGHT. ANIMALS ARE SOOOO WONDERFUL!! AND TO THINK HOW SO MANY PEOPLE ABUSE THEM . THEY HAVE SO MUCH TO OFFER US IN OUR LIVES!! KUDOS TO ALL ANIMALS!!

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When my family lived in Africa, we found a mutt and took him home with us. His name was Dusty. One time when my sister was about 7 years old, she was riding her bike in the cul-de-sac and 3 doberman pinschers saw her and starting running to attack. Dusty, the brave little fat dog that he was blocked them from my sister. He endured multiple surgeries after being attacked by the dogs and it took him so long to recover from his injuries, since the dogs were literally ripping him apart. He saved my sister from certain death, because she would not have been able to protect herself from them.

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