A Cañon City service dog inducted to the Iowa Hall of Heroes for saving her owner’s life has come through again, alerting Kevin Johnson to a potentially deadly natural gas leak in his detached garage.
Two days in a row Reese’s blocked Johnson, 64, from entering the garage to get food for his hens. The second time, he realized something was wrong and flagged down a passing utility truck and crews discovered the leaking line.
Had he opened the door and turned on the light switch, things could have been bad, he said.
Reese’s, who is trained to detect Johnson’s blood-sugar levels, was dubbed the “Miracle Dog” by television and news reporters after a near-fatal car crash in November 2010 in Iowa. She was hit by a car in an attempt to keep Johnson from stepping into the roadway. After being hit, she rolled into the highway and was struck a second time. After a grim prognosis, Johnson went to the veterinarian’s office to say his final goodbye, but instead, the veterinarians, who also were in disbelief, told him she suddenly was fine and could go home.
Reese’s also has sensed emotional pain in some of the children in Johnson’s art therapy classes in Iowa — children who had lost a grandparent, whose parents recently were divorced or those who had experienced a similar loss — and she would pay specific attention to those children or show them extra affection. Reese’s also has been there to comfort many adults and first responders in times of loss and tragedy.
“She does it with a wagging tail, then she is like, ‘please give me all your pain,'” Johnson said. “Then it’s kind of like Connie (Johnson’s wife) and my responsibility to go let her have fun sometimes, or we go to schools and kids fill her back up with love.”
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