Posted: Mon, 23 May 2011 01:48 PM - 10,601 Readers
By: Pam LeBlanc
Photography by Ralph Barrera
Lassie has nothing on Yogi, a golden retriever credited with saving his owner's life after a serious cycling accident near Lake Travis.
Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States will recognize Yogi as the 2011 Valor Dog of the Year for leading neighbors to where Paul Horton lay paralyzed after flipping off his mountain bike.
For his efforts, Yogi will get a crystal likeness of himself and a pair of customized silver dog tags. Chances are, he'd be happy just snuggling up next to Horton, a 58-year-old retired mechanical engineer who got the dog five years ago when he was a puppy.
Horton had taken Yogi along last October as he rode trails near his home on a hill not far from Windy Point. As Horton jumped a curb on his bike, disaster struck.
"I'm sure I've done it 100 times, but this time my front wheel stopped, and I went over the handlebars and landed on my head," Horton said. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but doctors told him that probably wouldn't have prevented his spinal injuries.
Horton was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he couldn't move and was bleeding from the nose and mouth. Yogi was at his side.
For the next 45 minutes, Horton pleaded with the 85-pound dog to go home and get help. Yogi didn't want to leave. Horton couldn't yell, and he was out of sight of passers-by, about 100 feet from a dead-end street.
Finally, Yogi headed back to the main road, where Horton's neighbors Bruce and Maggie Tate were walking. The normally mellow dog barked frantically. The Tates knew something was wrong and followed Yogi to Horton. There, Yogi stood protectively by his friend.
"It's pretty amazing that Yogi first stayed with Paul when he needed to, then recognized us and came to get us," Bruce Tate said. "Paul was in desperate shape. He wasn't in a place where there's a lot of traffic."
Horton was transported to St. David's Round Rock Medical Center, where doctors determined that his vertebrae had shifted, pinching his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the chest down. They operated to relieve pressure and stabilize his spine.
Horton spent four nights there, then moved to St. David's Rehabilitation Hospital, where he stayed for two months. His wife, Shearon, brought Yogi to visit several times.
"The dog alerting his neighbor was instrumental in getting him to a hospital and preventing his choking to death or going into shock," said Dr. Juan LaTorre, medical director of the spinal cord injury and amputee program at St. David's Rehabilitation Hospital. "He might not have survived if he hadn't been found until the next day."
Judges chose Yogi from 10 finalists in the national contest. He also won the People's Hero award, chosen by the public through online voting.
"It takes a very unique and special dog to do what Yogi did," said Nicole Paquette, Texas senior state director of the Humane Society. "He obviously has a true bond with Paul, and it just demonstrates how close we are to our companion animals and how much we need them."
Yogi, Horton said, acts differently since the accident. "He stays within sight of me in the house. If I change rooms, he changes rooms. If I move over five feet, he moves over five feet," he said.
Horton remains paralyzed but has regained some sensation in his abdomen, legs and back. He has limited use of his arms and hands. He's also learned that he has arthritis and leukemia.
He recently got a driver's license and is shopping for a van he can operate with hand controls. He and his wife are installing an elevator and remodeling the bathroom of their home to accommodate a wheelchair. Both say they are extremely grateful to friends, neighbors and hospital staffers.
These days, Yogi sticks to Horton like a burr. He plods around the house after Horton's wheelchair, his orangy-gold tail sweeping lazily back and forth.
About the only time he peels himself away is when Shearon Horton plays "Fluttering Leaves in A-Minor" on the piano. Then he trots to the instrument, tips back his head and howls, a slow woo-woo-woo.
Paul Horton said he's frustrated that he can't exercise Yogi as much as he used to. But he's thankful for what Yogi did.
"He's my buddy," Horton said.
"That's an understatement," Shearon Horton said.
