狗狗英雄

赫菲

Dogs are everywhere！ They’re in parks and on the sidewalks. They’re riding in cars and snoozing in the sun. Dogs are the most popular pet on the planet. In fact， they’re the first animals that people ever tamed（馴服）. There are some dogs often do very brave things， especially when they work with soldiers. The stories about all these dogs， trained and untrained， are endless. Every day some new story appears about a dog that has done something unbelievable.

Now let’s track down some really great dog heroes！

Buddy——火災中的“導航員”

Buddy lives with his owner， Ben， on a country road in Alaska. One day a fire broke out in Ben’s workshop. Ben fought the fire until he burned his hands. The fire was threatening his house！ Ben shouted for Buddy to get help.

The big German shepherd（牧羊犬） took off like a shot. Meanwhile， neighbors had called 911. A highway patrol officer tried to speed to the scene， but he got confused on the back roads. Suddenly he spotted Buddy. Buddy turned around in front of his car and headed for home. Somehow the patrolman（巡警） knew he should follow. His dashboard camera caught Buddy in action. It shows the big dog streaking（飛奔） down the road. At times he looked back to make sure the car was still there.

After they reached the house， firemen arrived to put out the blaze. The shop was a total loss， but Ben’s house was saved. Alaska state troopers had a ceremony to honor buddy. They rewarded him with a big rawhide（生牛皮的）bone. He also got a dog bowl with the words Diligence and Assistance engraved on it.

Chips——二戰中的“士兵”

Chips may have been the bravest dog in World War Ⅱ. Early one morning， Chips and his handler（馴犬師）， John Rowell， were with troops（部隊）on a beach in Sicily（西西里島）. Enemy gunfire broke out. The soldiers were pinned down and couldn’t move. Suddenly Chips broke away from John. Trailing his leash（頸繩）， he rushed directly to the spot where Italian gunners were firing.

In an instant， Chips dragged one of the men out of his hiding place. Three other men followed with their hands up in the air. During the fight， Chips received some gunpowder burns and a cut on his head.

Later that night， Chips alerted soldiers to more enemy action. Ten other prisoners were captured.

Chips stayed in the war for three years. During that time， he often went into battle with his unit. Before chips returned home in 1945， the soldiers gave him a special medal to honor his bravery.

Shana——暴風雪夜的“挖掘工”

Eve and Norman Fertig run an animal sanctuary（收容所）in New York. One night they were in one of the buildings feeding animals. It had been a nice fall day， but a blizzard（暴風雪） with galeforce（強勁的）winds suddenly blew in. When the lights went out， Norman and Eve left the building to see why. Just then a massive tree fell. It completely blocked their way. They couldn’t reach any shelter at all and huddled（擠成一團）together for warmth. Things looked bad.

Shana， an adopted hybrid（混血兒）wolf dog， stayed with them constantly. She began digging under the fallen tree. Shana was making a tunnel！ She dug with all her might， using her paws and even her mouth to clear the way. At times， she barked as if to tell them to follow her. Shana tunneled all the way to the house. It took her almost three hours！

Because the tunnel wasn’t very large， Eve had to lie down to get through it while Shana dragged her by her sleeve. Then Norman grabbed Eve’s legs and Shana pulled them both. Finally they all stumbled（蹣跚地;跌跌撞撞地） into the house. Since the electricity was off， the house was very cold. Shana lay on top of them and kept them warm until help arrived the next morning.

Bo——水中“救生員”

Laurie and bob Roberts were rafting（乘坐著竹筏）down the Colorado River. The couple had their Labrador retriever（拉布拉多尋回犬）， Bo， and a new puppy named Duchess（公爵夫人） with them.

Everyone was having fun until an eight-foot wave hit the raft. The raft flipped over， and Bo and Duchess were thrown clear. But Bo and Laurie were trapped underneath in the raging water. Somehow Bo managed to swim free. Laurie was still trapped and in danger of drowning！

Bo turned around and swam back down under the raft. As Bo looked on helplessly， Bo appeared once more. This time he was dragging Laurie by the hair！ She managed to grab on to Bo’s big tail. He pulled her through the strong current back to the shore.

Like most Labs， Bo is a great swimmer. Labs have webbed feet and powerful tails that propel them easily through the water. Thanks to Bo， these things really helped Laurie， too！