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It felt like a generously warm day for a typical Michigan Mid-March Sunday afternoon. So Bobby and I decided it would be a good idea to set up our kids big wooden play structure in the yard. Our kids were out of town that weekend but our dogs were outside with us enjoying the Sunday afternoon breeze.  It took us a while longer than we expected it to as is generally the case with some afternoon projects but we were excited to surprise our kids when they arrived home to us that evening. We tediously raised up the second floor platform of the structure and almost had the second side lifted high enough to put the support legs securely under it when the storm began to roll in. The winds got heavy and the skies turned black as night. The rain started to pour down on us. We watched as our dogs all ran for the house.

The Coming Storm

We couldn’t let the platform of the play structure stand alone yet.  We finished trying to secure that last side in the pouring rain and when we thought it was good enough to weather this storm we headed in to take cover as well. We made it to the house soaking wet and when we did we saw that our Havanese dogs were all soaking wet and shivering too. However Our Eddy was not there with the rest of them. The lightning and thunder moved passed us but the heavy rains remained. We dried up our dogs and made sure they were cozy. Then we began to search for Eddy.

Eddy is our smallest Havanese at just 6 lbs and he usually is afraid of nothing…  Nothing except for a loud storm. He is as sweet and affectionate as can be. He is always watching out for his HavaFamily! We are very proud of him and love him so. As Bobby drove through the property on our quad, looking for Eddy… I searched the acres on foot. There was no sign of him at all. As dusk approached we both became afraid for Eddy. I didn’t think that he would wander off down the road trying to outrun that storm. That thought kept crossing my mind but each time I thought it, I reminded myself that he just wouldn’t do that.

Eddy is Lost!

We searched long after dark and well into the night. We drove a five mile radius with spotlights. We asked neighbors that live down the road from us… Nobody had seen him anywhere. Had our Eddy just vanished? It was like Toto without Dorothy… who would have thought?  After midnight and still no Eddy to be found anywhere, we finally went to bed fearing the worst. Eddy may not have made it out of the storm. Or maybe he did run out into the road and just maybe somebody picked him up? Neither Bobby nor I slept well that night. I kept having awful dreams. Bobby was restless.

In the morning Bobby searched again before going to work, No Eddy. I prayed that he would be o.k.  Wherever he was, then I was overcome with a strange feeling. Something wasn’t right, Bobby and I both felt that we were missing something. I walked outside into the fresh bright sunlight shinning down on me and started to search for Eddy again. I called his name over and over and heard nothing. All was quiet. Eddy was nowhere to be found. I went back to the house still in shock and decided that I best let my other dogs out for their mourning routine.

When I let them out on this morning they were louder than normal and I realized that they were acting differently. It is Lucy that is my informer Havanese. She can sometimes be vocal about things that are important to her. She “lets me know” things and talks to me often. Eddy and Lucy are matched so well for each other. Lucy loves her Eddy so much. She ran around in small circles and just kept trying to get my attention. I put the other Havs in the house and just let Sadie and Lucy out with me hoping well maybe that they would help me find him. I continued to call for Eddy now with Lucy and Sadie watching me call for him and also with me watching where they would go…

Sadie and Lucy Know Something is Wrong

The girls started to trot over to the area where an old barn had fallen down years ago. Sadie sniffed the ground and Lucy searched around. It was obvious they were helping me look for Eddy! I couldn’t believe it. I read about this sort of thing before, dogs being hero’s and all. An exciting and frantic 20 minutes or so had passed and still… No Eddy. I was wishing he would just come running up to us like nothing had ever happened, wondering what were all so worried about. Instead, Lucy started to sniff at the front corner of the shed. Then she barked a few times. Sadie ran to the back of the shed but it was under water from the heavy rains. The girls started to bark at me, then they looked at each other and then looked again up at me.  All of a sudden they became very quiet and just sat starring at me.

Sadie Won’t Leave Eddy

And as I looked down at the water that surrounded the back of the shed, there I saw my Eddy breathe. I could see him breathe because of a little tuft of sand that poofed up through the clear water like a single cloud floating through the sky. All of a sudden in the quiet I could hear him move but I still could not figure out from where. “Eddy” I said. A little noise became just a little louder.

Eddy is Found

Sadie walked around in the water sniffing the back of the shed but rain water flooded  the bottom of the shed. Sadie went and sat down in the water just behind a board that looked a lot like the shed.

Sadie Lays in the Water Signalling Something is Wrong

All the while starring at me and never loosing eye contact. She laid her body the rest of the way down so that only her head was up out of the water. She still stared at me.

I looked at the back of the shed then realized that Eddy was under the shed… Trapped!

Eddy Kept His Nose Above Water for 20 Hours!

Sadie laid down in the water to tell me that Eddy was sitting under water. I panicked, but I reached through the water and under the shed to confirm what Sadie was telling me, with my own touch I felt him and realized that Lucy and Sadie were HEROS! The water was quickly residing but not fast enough. Eddy was stuck in a very small 4” by 12” area barely holding his head above water. He was shivering and cold barely able to make a sound except to breathe and his breathes were shallow. I thanked God that Eddy was alive, while still praying that we could get him out of danger.

Eddy is Trapped

I quickly called Bobby at work and excitedly let him know that I needed his help right away. As I explained the situation to Bobby his first thought was that we had to get the water level to go down quicker than it was receding on its own. He stopped at a Tractor Supply Store on his way home and bought a water pump to pump out the flooded area. While he was on his way home I kept digging a hole under the water under the shed so that we would eventually be able to squeeze our Eddy out. Bobby arrived and jumped into the muddy water,  work shoes, work pants and all, to set up the water pump. He was able to get the water levels down fast. Bobby and Sadie were in the muddy water together just waiting to see once Eddy again.

We knew that once we got Eddy out of that place under the shed that his condition could be grave. The water was icy cold.  The water finally resided enough and I had managed to dig a small hole in the dirt without making the water level even higher for Eddy. I was able to reach my hand under the shed, lower Eddy’s head under the water and pull Eddy out where I had dug the shallow hole. Eddy was ALIVE!

He was breathing. He had been stuck under that shed for more than 20 hours. He hid under there when the storm came and then the rains flooded him in. Trapped! We were so thankful to see him again! We wrapped him in a towel and tried to bring up his body temperature as fast as we could. Sadie and Lucy were so happy and excited to see him again! Our Eddy is very healthy today and much more afraid of storms than ever. Lucy and Sadie not only saved the day, they saved a life! I am so thankful that dogs can communicate with us.

So often they try to “tell us” things, important things, sometimes we just gotta stop what we are doing, look our dog in the eye… and listen!