While we’re talking dog-stories, I was coincidentally emailed this story today. When we announced the contest, I wondered how much liberty contestants would take. All we asked for was a story about a dog or dogs. I may as well have said that congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech for all the guidelines we gave. But a story like this one was not submitted.
From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, three children in Ligonier, PA, could have been malled by a large black bear had it not been for the courage of their 1-year-old Boxer named Major.
The bear wondered across the highway and into the yard where the children were playing badminton. He reared up to his full height and trotted toward the children, who sprinted to their house as fast as they could.
“The dog began ‘running circles’ around the children, as if to protect them. [Father Bill Rusko said] he saw the 1-year-old Boxer approach the bear and clamp its teeth into the face of the bear not once, but twice. He said he believes his children might have been injured or worse if it had not been for the dog. ‘The bear was going right for them,’ Rusko said.”
What the bear’s motives were is unclear, because bears rarely attack people unprovoked. But Major didn’t care to inquire, chasing the black beast back into the woods. He hasn’t been seen since.
About 6 p.m. [yesterday], the Ruskos spotted the dog in the area, but he has not yet come home. “Major ran through, and he stopped and looked at us, as if to make sure we were OK, then he took off again,” Bill Rusko said.
“We’ve tried looking for him for hours,” Corey Rusko said.
“He’s not the type of dog that would just run off,” said Dawn Rusko, the boy’s mother. “He loves these kids, and he’s on guard duty 24-7. He’s a hero, and I want him back.”
