Dogs bark for many different reasons. Sometimes they bark to let you know they’re hungry or even just that they smell something yummy. Sometimes they bark to scare intruding squirrels off their property. Occasionally, a dog may even vocalize to alert their person to danger.
Joy, a small black Havanese mix from New York, got her mom’s attention with her frantic barking. The 5-year-old rescue continued hollering at the door until Greta Edmonds finally realized Joy was trying to tell her something urgent.
Edmonds told ABC News 10 about her dog’s successful ploy:
“Several times I asked her to stop, and she wouldn’t. I got up, went to the door and peeped out the hole and there was nothing, and so I sat back down and she continued to bark. So finally, I got back up and I opened my door and heard someone calling for help.”
Joy Looks Out For A Neighbor In Need
Incredibly, if not for Joy barking up a storm, Edmonds likely wouldn’t have known her 94-year-old neighbor was in trouble. She found the woman kneeling in her doorway, covered in blood.
“[Joy] knows her, and she recognized her voice. If it wouldn’t have been from Joy barking, I wouldn’t have heard her and neither would anyone else in the building. She recognized someone was in jeopardy and she stepped up.”
Edmonds immediately dialed 9-1-1 to get help. The neighbor is now recovering in the hospital, thanks to the assistance of little but persistent Joy. Funny enough, she doesn’t yet know a dog may have saved her life. Edmonds noted, though:
“When she gets home, we’ll share the story with her, and she adores Joy!”
Perhaps this story will make you stop and think before you tell your pup to quit barking. You never know what they’re trying to tell you!
A Hero And Emotional Support Animal
When Edmonds lost her 14-year-old Yorkie, she didn’t know if she could even have another dog after that. Meeting Joy at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society changed her mind right away.
“I was not going to have another dog because I didn’t want to go through that emotional strain again —but once I saw that face, it was all over.”
In addition to being incredibly alert and altruistic, Joy is officially registered as an emotional support animal. As her name suggests, she brings so much joy to Edmonds each day.
“She’s my soulmate. We are together all the time. She’s a registered emotional support dog. and we spend all of our time together. She goes where I go.”
Everything about this has fate written all over it.
H/T: ABC News 10
Featured Image: Screenshot, ABC News 10
Toledo, United States.
