Here, people share their stories on how animals affected and altered their lives. Whether saving them from danger or providing unconditional love, it is no wonder many pet owners prefer animals to people.
1. On The River’s Edge
When I was little, we lived on 14 acres right along a riverbank. One day, when I was about two, my very pregnant mom brought me home from the grocery store, set me inside, and went back out to grab the rest of the bags. Somehow, I slipped back out the door and wandered down toward the river. My mom panicked when she came inside and realized I was gone.
She ran toward the river, convinced I had fallen in. When she found me, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. I was standing with my toes right at the edge of the water, and our German shorthaired pointer was sitting calmly behind me with his mouth clamped on the back of my shirt, keeping me from going any farther. I probably owe that dog my life.
2. It Was Fall For The Best
One day I was walking my dog, and as we were heading back to my house, a squirrel darted into our garage. I let go of the leash, thinking we were basically home and he wouldn’t take off. But then the squirrel ran back out, and my dog bolted after it. In a last-second attempt to stop him, I stepped on the leash.
It wrapped around my ankle, and I went down hard. It shook me up a little, but I thought I was fine. The next day, though, my leg swelled up so badly that I could barely walk. We went to the doctor and learned that when I twisted my leg and fell, I had irritated a blood clot—a DVT—which caused the swelling.
Since I was only 15, blood clots were unusual. So the doctor ordered more tests—and found something much worse.
We learned that a malignant tumor near my bladder had caused the clot. It was about the size of a grapefruit. They also found out the cancer was stage 4 and had already spread. I started treatment right away. Ten months after my dog made me fall, I was nearly done with chemo and cancer-free.
3. Just Go With Mitt
I was taking my dog, Mittens, out for a morning walk. Mitt was strangely fixated on one particular trash can. I kept trying to get him to move along, but every time I pulled him away, he started growling. Finally, I decided to see what had his attention, and I was surprised I hadn’t noticed the smell sooner.
There were flies everywhere. At first I just thought, “Whatever, probably rotten meat,” but then I saw something that sent a chill through me.
I spotted a tiny patch of skin. Trying to stay calm, I moved things around a little more, and that’s when I realized it was a small arm and hand. I called the authorities immediately. They recovered the body of a three-year-old boy.
Later, they identified him. He was from a few towns away and had been missing for about a week. The authorities believed someone had driven by during the night and left the body there. They questioned everyone on my block, but no one had seen anything suspicious, and as far as I know, they never caught whoever did it. It still makes me feel sick to think about.
4. On A Wild Moose Chase
When I was visiting friends in Nunavut, a moose used to hang around their place and get tipsy from eating fermented apples near the house. It was oddly calm around people, probably because it was half-intoxicated most of the time. One day, my friend and I came back to his place and found an unexpected problem.
The moose was standing right on his doorstep, completely blocking the door. Only a fool would mess with a full-grown moose, so we left it alone, got back in the car, and waited for it to move. A few minutes later, a couple of Mounties showed up, then a couple more. Clearly something was going on.
You normally didn’t see more than two officers at once, so it seemed like an unusual response for a moose on a doorstep—especially since we hadn’t called anyone. It turned out they weren’t there because of the moose.
They were looking for a man who had seriously hurt his girlfriend and then robbed a store, and he was last seen being chased by a tipsy moose straight into my friend’s house. If the moose hadn’t been standing in front of the door, the man probably would have got us. It took the authorities hours to get him to come out, and he was extremely intoxicated when he finally did.
5. My Dog Was The Best
One night, I was walking my dog Nitro—a 100-pound rottweiler/lab/chow mix—through the huge stretch of wilderness that was basically my backyard. It wasn’t completely dark, but it was dim, with faint stars scattered across the sky. As we came around a bend in the brush, I heard a strange guttural sound I had never heard before—low, deep, and ominous.
I started looking around, but I couldn’t see anything. My dog was doing the same, though from his reaction I could tell he understood more than I did. A moment later, he stepped directly in front of me and started snarling at something in the bushes. I backed up and stared into the brush. Then something moved, and I saw two large eyes staring back at me.
It was a mountain lion. We all froze. The lion was crouched like it was ready to pounce, and I was sure it could reach me before I had any chance to react. My dog was just as tense, with every hair on his back standing up. They traded growls for what felt like forever, staring each other down the whole time, until the lion finally backed off and disappeared into the dark.
6. Camie Came A Running
My dog, Camie, protected my friend and me from my friend’s dangerous boyfriend. We both knew something was seriously wrong with him, but my friend stayed in denial for a long time. Eventually, she couldn’t ignore it anymore and tried to leave him.
He snapped and bit her badly. She managed to get away and drove the short distance to my house, thinking she’d be safe there. She wasn’t.
He followed her, kicked in the glass of the French doors, and reached inside to unlock them. I wish I could say we bravely fought him off, but we didn’t. She was already exhausted from trying to defend herself, and neither of us had any training. He cornered us quickly and used his fists and my scarves to overpower us.
He told us what he was going to do to us, and I had almost given up. I was too weak to fight, and for some reason, I couldn’t even beg. I just went cold and numb. That’s when Camie, my pit-lab mix, crashed through what was left of the French doors and charged into the room. She was usually a sweet, loving, goofy dog.
She was always gentle with the neighborhood kids and had never even growled before. But when she got to him, she became fierce. Her eyes were wild, and foam was flying from her mouth. She was bleeding from cuts caused by the broken glass, but she didn’t care. She was on him in an instant.
Then we heard the garage door open, and all of us froze. My father was home. The man tried to use that moment to run, but Camie forced him into a corner, barking and snarling nonstop. My dad must have known from the sound that something was wrong, because he was in the room almost immediately.
The authorities came, and we pressed charges. He went to trial and was sent behind bars.
7. This Guy Was The Cat’s Meow
I was living with an abusive boyfriend and my cat, Buddie. Because he was cruel to her too, she became terrified of any man who came into the apartment. Then one day, a friend of a friend came over, and she adored him. She followed him everywhere. Not long after that, I finally found the courage to throw my boyfriend out, but I needed somewhere to live.
My friend’s friend had just lost his roommates, so I moved in with him. We eventually got married, and we’ve now been together for 19 years.
8. Shiver Me Timbers!
When I was about 16, my older brother brought home an amazing pit bull whose owners were divorcing and moving away. We’d never had a dog before because my mom had been afraid of them ever since some bad experiences as a child. He was around eight months old and had a patch over one eye, so his previous owners had named him Pirate.
My younger brother and I were thrilled, and we bought all the basic dog gear so we could take him on walks. We usually walked him around the neighborhood together, but one day my brother was at a friend’s house, so I took Pirate out by myself. It was the middle of summer, around noon, and extremely hot.
I decided to cut the walk short and go through an alley that led back to my side of the block. When I turned toward the alley, Pirate refused to move. He just stood there and looked at me. I coaxed him and tugged on the leash, but it was like trying to drag a rock. Since I was new to dogs, I figured he was just being stubborn. Finally, he gave in to my pulling and suddenly took off.
I was practically being dragged behind him, yelling for him to stop, but he kept running full speed. As we got close to the end of the alley, I saw an older man standing there completely still, staring at me with his pants down and exposing himself. I was stunned and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Pirate didn’t hesitate for a second, and by then I was more than ready to run too.
We raced back to my house, where I immediately started shouting about the man in the alley. My mom called the authorities, and my stepdad drove around looking for him. He found our neighbors upset too, because they had seen him as well. Girls had been getting harassed in our area that summer, so it was taken seriously, and I had to file a report.
I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if Pirate hadn’t been with me.
9. Blood Bark
It was late at night, and everyone in my house was asleep. I decided to go into the kitchen and end my life. I took a box cutter from a drawer. Before I went through with it, I wanted to make sure the blade was sharp, so I tested it on my wrist. It was much sharper than I expected, and I got myself badly.
The moment that happened, my dog started barking nonstop. Within seconds, my mom was beside me. I was on the floor, panicking and trying to clean the blood before anyone saw it. I told the paramedics and my family that cutting my wrist had been an attempt to take my own life.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell them I had actually been preparing to do something even more extreme. My dog saved my life that night. He knew I was hurt and got me the help I needed.
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10. This Cat Had Spidey Sense
I had a bagel with cream cheese sitting next to my desk, and just before I picked it up for a bite, my cat jumped onto the desk and started smacking the life out of the bagel. It turned out there was a huge spider hiding in the hole, and I probably would have bitten right into it if he hadn’t stopped me. That cat really lived up to his name: Rambo.
11. Out Of Nowhere
When I was younger, I had a German shepherd named JC. He was the kind of dog who liked to nap at the foot of the couch and take life easy. He was sweet, loving, and never seemed to have an aggressive bone in his body. One day, someone left the front door open, and he wandered out. I was at school when it happened, so I had no idea he was missing.
My grandmother called our neighbor and asked if he could help look for him. He kindly agreed and spent time driving and walking around the area, but he couldn’t find JC. Later that day, while I was walking home from school, I saw a friend of mine in a fight. I ran over to help and realized it was him against four other guys.
I rushed in, shoved one of them aside, and tried to pull my friend up. He looked at me and yelled, “RUN.” I tried, but one of the guys grabbed me by the neck and tackled me. My friend took off. I was getting kicked and hit, and then four or five more guys showed up and circled around me.
The second I curled into a ball, I heard one of them yell, and suddenly a bunch of them started running. Out of nowhere, JC appeared and went after them, barking, snarling, and biting.
After a moment, I looked up and could hardly believe it was my dog, because I had never seen him act like that before. He came over, licked my face, and then turned back around like he was standing guard. I got to my feet, and there were still three guys who hadn’t run off. After a quick stare-down, they backed off and ran too. I was bleeding, exhausted, and had a pounding headache, but JC had saved me from something much worse.
When we were almost home, JC ran ahead, and I was too worn out to follow him. When I got there, he was sitting at the edge of the yard, watching everything like a guard dog. I went inside and sat on the couch. He jumped into my lap, licked my face a little, and I ended up falling asleep for a while.
12. My Dog Hooked Me Up
I met my girlfriend of two years because of my dog. I was walking my dog, Boots, in the local park when a cute blonde woman came over to say hello. That wasn’t unusual since people in that park were always stopping to talk to someone’s dog. She asked the usual questions and crouched down to pet him. Then he barked.
I awkwardly said, “He wants to know if he can have your number.” She laughed and gave it to me.
13. Bush Master
When I was four, I went to a preschool just down the road from my house, though my mom usually drove me there. On the days we walked, I always insisted on bringing our dog, Luke. He was a huge Golden Retriever/Lab mix. My mom didn’t love taking him because he stopped every few feet to mark everything in sight.
One day, when my mom was getting ready to pick me up, Luke started scratching at the door like crazy and refused to stay inside. She finally gave in and brought him with her. On the way to school, Luke pulled hard on the leash, trying to go the longer route. My mom said no and made him go the shorter way.
She picked me up, and we started heading home the short way, but Luke was determined to go the long way instead. I hated walking, so neither of us wanted to do it, but he was stronger than both of us, so eventually we gave in. As we walked, I was talking nonstop about preschool, when suddenly my mom told me to be quiet.
She said she heard something. We stood still for a few seconds, but I couldn’t hear anything. We kept going, and then Luke suddenly lunged toward a bush in someone’s yard. That’s when we heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” We looked closer and saw a foot sticking out from behind the bush. It was an 80-year-old woman who was stuck.
My mom tried to help her up, but the woman said she’d had hip and knee surgery and couldn’t get up that way. Then Luke grabbed the six-foot bush in his mouth and yanked it right out of the ground. My mom ran to a neighbor’s house to call for help, and we ended up saving that woman’s life because of our stubborn dog.
A few weeks later, my mom went to visit her and learned that her son only came by once a week. She had fallen while waving goodbye to him that day. If Luke hadn’t insisted on taking the long route, she might have been stuck there for a week.
14. Lassie To The Rescue
My little brother’s dog literally saved his life. He was living in a very old house, and something went wrong with the wood heating system, causing the place to fill with dangerous black smoke. My brother was already asleep when it happened, so the carbon monoxide made him pass out.
His dog, Brutus, kept biting his arm until the pain woke him up, then helped pull him toward the door. He was basically a 140-pound golden Lab version of Lassie.
15. Her Sweet Meow Saved Me
I had a wonderful dog who meant everything to me, but he was taken, and it affected me deeply. Later, even though I wasn’t comfortable with the idea, I adopted a cat and named her CandyRaj. She could never replace my dog, but she was all right and honestly acted more like a dog than a cat. I was always a little guarded with her, partly because I was afraid of losing her too.
About six months later, a series of bad storms hit. Trees were ripped out of the ground, and power lines and poles were down everywhere. The weekend before St. Patrick’s Day, one of my housemates and I went grocery shopping and came back home. We unpacked, started playing video games, and just relaxed. A few hours later, though, something felt off.
The storm was still pounding against the house, which didn’t really bother me, but there was a strange smell. We went looking and noticed a little smoke in the house. I figured maybe something had been left in the oven. We checked the kitchen—nothing. We checked upstairs—nothing. I nervously went down to the basement, but again found nothing.
Confused, we searched the whole house, except for my room, because it had seemed fine the last time I checked. Then, after about 10 minutes, we heard this awful, strange meow coming from my bedroom. We looked at each other, and I opened the door. About four feet in, my dresser was on fire. I screamed, and my cat jumped toward me.
I grabbed her, put her in the car, and tried to deal with the fire. It was an electrical fire, and it spread through the room almost immediately. We lost the house and everything I owned. CandyRaj had been trapped in a room filling with thick black smoke. I never would have checked my room if it hadn’t been for her. After that, I really learned to love her.
I got out with only cuts and bruises instead of something far worse.
16. Just In The Lick Of Time
A few years ago, my best friend went through a rough breakup when his girlfriend left for college. Their relationship had already been unhealthy, and the distance only made things worse, with nonstop fighting and yelling. One day, they were arguing on the phone upstairs while I was in his basement. I heard him shouting, then suddenly go quiet. A second later, something hit the floor hard.
I ran upstairs. He had collapsed. He was shaking, in the middle of a panic attack, and struggling to breathe. His mom, dad, and I were all crying around him, begging him to calm down and breathe. Then his dog came running in and started licking his feet. Somehow, that made him start laughing. He was still coughing and laughing, but he could breathe again.
17. Fear Had No Boundaries
When I was seven, my mom and I were visiting family. While everyone else was inside drinking and laughing, I went out to the backyard, where there was a pool. They also had a big dog, and at the time I was scared of dogs. As I tried to play while keeping as much distance from the dog as I could, I slipped and fell into the pool.
The same dog I had been avoiding jumped into the water and pulled me close enough to the edge for me to climb out. That day, I learned two things: I needed to learn how to swim, and dogs are amazing.
18. My Bull-Headed Dog Saved Me
I grew up on a small farm, and every now and then the cows would get out. Usually, we could lure them back with some corn or hay. One time, though, a bull got loose. I was young and home alone. I went out to bring it back in, which I had done before with the cows, even at that age. I tried my usual routine, but the bull wanted no part of it.
It started acting much more aggressively. I backed up a little, which was probably the wrong move. The bull dropped its head and started coming at me. Out of nowhere, my border collie, Cosmo, jumped between us, smacked the bull on the nose, dodged its charges, and went right back at its face. That stopped the bull and shifted its focus away from me and onto the dog.
Cosmo circled it, nipped at its tail, and pressured it from the sides. By the end of that short—though it felt much longer—moment, the dog had guided the bull back to the gate so I could shut it behind him. Meanwhile, my cat was off rolling around in the gravel.
19. Compassionate Kitty
After college, I spent more than a year looking for work and getting passed over again and again for people with more experience. It was really wearing me down. I felt hopeless and was slipping into depression. I had worked hard to do well in school, so being rejected over and over was hitting me hard.
One day, I was at my mom's house, and she was upset with me for still not having a job. After she went upstairs, I sat in the kitchen with my head on my arms, trying not to cry. Out of nowhere, my mom's cat jumped up and curled up on my legs. He looked up at me and started purring. I had never felt so comforted.
He stayed there until I had to get up. I had almost decided to cancel a trip I had planned months earlier to go to a gaming convention, but strangely enough, that cat lifted my spirits enough to make me still go. While I was there, I met the love of my life and eventually moved to a completely different part of the country. I was still job hunting, but life got a whole lot better.
20. A Clean Save
When I was much younger, my family had a couple of puppies we were trying to find homes for. My mom worked at the local animal clinic, so my sister and I took them there to bathe them and make them look nice for their new owners. Just as I started to open the door to the back room, the puppy in my arms wrapped both front paws around my arm, started shaking hard, and let out a whine.
I stopped to figure out what was wrong. I looked down, and through the small crack in the door, I saw the eye and silently bared teeth of the German shepherd dog that was being boarded there. He had gotten out of his run and had taken over the whole back room.
If my sister and I had walked into that room, we almost certainly would have been hurt.
21. She Needed Some Puppy Love
Here’s a clearer, more conversational rewrite with a very similar length and toned-down language:
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My friend had a severe eating disorder. She would punish herself by forcing herself to exercise. On the surface, that might not sound so alarming, but she would push herself to the point of complete exhaustion, almost passing out. One night, I walked over with my new puppy and set him down so I could go inside.
My puppy found her on the floor, crying, shaking, and still doing pushups. She was trying to “punish” herself for something beyond her control. The puppy ran over, started licking her face, and whining at her. She eventually got help, and I gave her that dog later that same day.
They were clearly attached to each other, and she needed that sweet lab-mix rescue far more than I did.
22. My Dogs Made A Splash In My Life
Most of the animals I’ve had have changed my life in one way or another. The two dogs I grew up with, Cheif and T’pau, were always there when I was hurting and felt like I just couldn’t keep going. When the first guy I thought I loved broke up with me, I cried for hours. I felt hopeless, so I grabbed some pills and a glass of water.
My two dogs came in, and just as I was about to take the pills, Cheif flopped down next to me and T’pau “hugged” me by pressing her head into my chest. She knocked the water all over both of them and all over me. They looked up at me with water dripping off their faces, and I couldn’t help but laugh and hold them. After that, whenever I was sad, they were the ones I turned to.
23. I Had My Own Kitty Corner
I had two cats at home. One was a Maine coon—an absolute goof, but secretly very smart—and the other was a clever blue point Siamese. I didn’t have many friends, and the few I did have didn’t want to spend time with me outside of school. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to, so I talked to my cats.
They kept me company and gave me a reason not to hurt myself when I was a depressed teenager.
24. Love Is A Pug
I went through a severe depressive episode where I sat on my couch staring at a glass of water with a handful of pills in my hand. Then my tiny pug puppy climbed into my lap. He just sat there, looked up at my face, and started licking my chin. I couldn’t go through with it while he was looking at me like that. I put the pills away and stayed on the couch cuddling my puppy for a while.
25. At A Lifesaving Crossroads
I went through a heartbreaking breakup with my girlfriend. We had been together for seven years, living together for three, and I had proposed to her about two weeks earlier. She said yes, but then two weeks later, she ended things. I was sure it was fear of commitment, so we still spent time together on weekends, but then my father decided to get involved.
One weekend, on my way home from seeing her, my dad called her new boyfriend’s house and then called him at work. I had no idea any of this had happened until she called me, angrier than I had ever seen her. At that point, I lost all hope that we might work things out. I still had a two-hour drive ahead of me to sit with everything.
About an hour and a half into that drive, through a lot of tears, I seriously thought about driving off the bridge I was crossing. Right then, my dog climbed into the front seat and rested his head on my lap. He saved my life simply by being there.
26. Shake, Rattle, And Roll
When I was a little over a year old, my family moved across town. It took four days to get everything packed and ready. While my parents and sibling were boxing up the house and loading the truck, I was out on the front porch playing. For some reason, my cat kept steering me away from one particular potted plant every time I got close to it.
He would sit by that plant on the porch and keep an eye on me. My parents thought it was strange, but they didn’t give it much thought. On the last day, they picked up the pot and found a pygmy rattlesnake hiding underneath. Byron was an incredible cat. He was a 22-pound giant who stood his ground against Rottweilers and Dobermans more than once, and he lived all the way to 19.
27. He Brought Me Out Of My Shell
I have a little turtle, and that tiny guy absolutely loves me. Whenever I come home exhausted from work and in a “forget everything” kind of mood, I walk into my apartment and there he is—going wild in his tank because he’s excited I’m home. Somehow his joy rubs off on me, and just like that, I’m in a good mood for the rest of the night.
28. Man’s Best Friend
I live with severe PTSD, agoraphobia, and panic disorder after two tours in Iraq. My family moved to another state so my son could go to school. My German shepherd is honestly the only friend I have left in the world. That’s sad in one way, but comforting in another. Without him, I don’t think I’d be able to function or keep making it through each day.
29. Cat Duty
We had three cats—George, Pepper, and Brogan. Pepper was about 13, and she had diabetes and arthritis. George was getting irritable and mean with everyone in the house. My parents didn’t want to have them put down, so they started looking at a shelter that specialized in caring for difficult cats.
My parents wanted to send Brogan there to make things easier for the other two, but I cried and begged them to let her stay because she was my favorite. They agreed, but only if I took full responsibility for her food, water, litter box, and everything else. I agreed, and she stayed my cat until she passed on at the age of 17.
She taught me responsibility, love, and how to manage my time and money.
30. A Reason To Live
I deal with depression, and my cat helps me get through it. She seems to know when I’m hurting and always comes over to do whatever she can to comfort me. Because of her, I could never end my life. The thought of her walking through the house, meowing and searching for me because she couldn’t find me, is too heartbreaking for me to ever do that to her.
31. My Feline Gave Me Fight
I was fighting cancer and had only a 3% chance of surviving. My cat would lie on my head and purr, calming me whenever I cried. When I was hundreds of miles away getting treatment, I would think about her—how she was my “baby” and how badly I wanted to see her again. When I was first diagnosed and staying in the hospital, I had a hard time sleeping.
I’d imagine her purring in my ear, and it helped me drift off. I don’t know if I can say she saved my life, but she absolutely gave me a reason to keep living.
32. My Canine Sniffed Out A Villain
One day, I was out walking my dog when a man stopped to talk to me. My dog, who was normally very friendly, immediately started snarling and barking at him. The man was pushy and kept trying to get me alone, but eventually he gave up because my dog wouldn’t stop acting aggressively. I hurried home and tried to put it out of my mind.
A few days later, I was out walking with my SO, and he pointed out that same man. What he told me made my blood run cold: the man was a convicted offender.
33. Roy Was No Garbage Hound
When I was younger, I was always wandering off. I could get out of just about anything adults came up with to keep me contained. And whenever I fell, I’d just get right back up. One day, my whole family was outside by my aunt’s pool, and for some reason I wanted to go inside. My aunt’s dog—a huge German shepherd named Roy—loved playing with me because I gave him so much attention.
Somehow, I made my way inside and got to the trash in a bedroom. I climbed into the garbage and got stuck upside down with a plastic bag around me. Roy saw what happened, ran outside to where the adults were, and started freaking out. At first it was just a few barks, then he started whining, running in circles, and racing in and out of the house.
They realized I was missing and followed Roy. They found me upside down in the trash can, nearly suffocating. To this day, I’m grateful that dog was as smart as he was.
Flickr, Josefine S. (Protected by Pixsy)
34. Hide N’ Seek Saved Me
When I was in junior high, the first thing I did every day when I got home was call for my dog. We lived out in the desert, so like the other neighborhood dogs, he was allowed to roam freely. He would always come running out from under the porch to greet me. But one day, he wasn’t there.
I spent about twenty minutes walking up and down the street looking for him, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. When I finally headed back home, I saw two masked men running out of my yard with my dog chasing after them and the front door of my house broken open. He had hidden on purpose so I’d go looking for him and wouldn’t walk inside.
35. Hammer Time
A while after I came back from Afghanistan, I started struggling with severe depression and PTSD symptoms. Life felt harder than it had even while I was deployed. I no longer had the focus I’d had over there, or the same outlets, and I just sat with my misery.
I started seeing a therapist, but all she wanted to do was load me up with medication and send me on my way. I didn’t agree with just throwing pills at problems and hoping they’d disappear, so I found another therapist. She introduced me to Animal-Assisted Therapy and helped me get my dog, Hammer. He’s been my best friend ever since.
He’s helped me through some very dark times, kept me grounded during panic and anxiety attacks, and been a steady presence in my life. The Fourth of July was especially hard for me, and I spent that night curled up in my apartment with headphones on and Hammer beside me, helping me stay calm. He jumps onto my bed whenever I have nightmares and lies next to me.
Whenever I start tossing around or reacting in my sleep, he licks my face or nudges me until I wake up. My life would be empty—or maybe not even here at all—if it weren’t for Hammer.
36. Things Became A Whole Lot Betta
I was having a really rough semester. I was sick all the time, my boyfriend at the time was away on exchange, and I felt lonely. One day, while I was walking through the campus center, I came across a guy selling betta fish. I knew absolutely nothing about fish, but on impulse, I decided to buy one. I spent a while looking through all of them, trying to choose one that was pretty, healthy, and lively.
I was starting to get a little nervous because all the fish seemed so jittery. But then I spotted this tiny red fish calmly watching me, and I instantly knew we were going to be friends. He was the best. He’d watch me while I did homework, get annoyed if I left the light on too long at night because he couldn’t nap, and even “dance” with me by swimming back and forth to copy my movements.
That little fish got me through the semester.
37. Dog Of Discipline
My great-uncle served for the Indian forces. He had a dachshund that was more disciplined than any dog I’d ever seen. Even the way he stood was stiff and proper. I was too intimidated to get close to him because he seemed so strict. Whenever we kids broke the rules, he’d bark at us. One day, my cousins, who were three and six, were playing in the backyard.
The dog suddenly started barking wildly and nipping at them. They ran inside crying. My great-uncle went out to see what had happened and found a lifeless 12-foot king cobra. Sadly, the snake had managed to bite the dog, and he passed on soon after—but not before saving my cousins’ lives.
38. Stray No More
My aunt and uncle had a dachshund and lived in a heavily wooded area. Around that time, there was also a stray German shepherd they had taken in while trying to find its owner. The shepherd was sleeping in the carport while the dachshund was outside with my cousin, who was four or five years old. Then a mountain lion came down from the woods above their backyard and jumped the fence.
It started badly injuring the dachshund, who was trying to protect my cousin. The German shepherd heard the little dog yelping in pain, burst through the locked gate, charged the mountain lion, and brought it down it right there.
The dachshund made a full recovery, and the shepherd’s owners were never found. He became part of the family and very likely saved my cousin’s life.
39. He Was Looking For Some Love
When my mom was younger, a dog started showing up at their house every day to be petted and played with. After a while, he basically adopted them and started sleeping in the backyard. One night, he was barking and growling nonstop at something behind the wall of my grandparents’ house.
When they turned on some lights to see what was going on, they saw someone run off into the dark. It was Richard Ramirez, the “Night Stalker.” That random dog saved their lives.
40. This Puppy Was No Joke
I was going through a lot as a teenager. I was diagnosed with depression at twelve and tried to end my life at thirteen. My parents divorced when I was fourteen. I had no friends, and at the time, my only sister couldn’t stand me. After one especially hard day—right after I found out my dad had another child—my mom asked what she could do to help.
I half-joked that I wanted a puppy. That weekend, my mom came home with the sweetest little dog I could have asked for, and my life started to change. It was like he knew I needed comfort, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Having something to care for saved my life.
41. A Morning Walk Almost Led To Disaster
My family and I adopted a dog from the pound when he was just a few weeks old. He was a chow/lab mix and looked pretty intimidating to strangers. But despite how he looked, he was incredibly gentle and wouldn’t hurt anyone. One day, my mom was walking him at 6 a.m., when the neighborhood was completely empty. A man started coming toward her very quickly.
It seemed clear he meant to attack her, but as soon as he got close, my dog completely lost it. He stood up on his hind legs, growled, and snapped, refusing to let the man get anywhere near my mom. After yelling at her, the man finally gave up and ran off. In his whole life, that was the only time anyone ever saw him act aggressively.
42. Life Lessons Learned
When I was four, my mom gave me a cat. She was my best friend for the next 16 years. Having something in my life that loved me unconditionally helped me so much while I was growing up. She would come cuddle with me when I was sad and put up with all kinds of silly games when I was little. When she passed on, it was my first real experience with grief.
It was a huge wake-up call for me. After that, whenever I came home from school, I made sure to say “goodbye” and “I love you” to everyone I was with. Around the time my cat passed, I got a betta fish because that was the only kind of pet allowed in my apartment. That fish helped me more than I ever expected while I was grieving my cat. I know he was only a fish, but I loved him.
He gave me something to care for while I took the time I needed to heal from losing my cat. Then the fish got sick. There was nothing I could do, and he passed on too. I learned that no matter how hard you try, sometimes all you can do is get back up and keep going.
43. A Fool And His Bunny
I quit smoking because of my rabbit. I had been going through packs for seven years. I loved it. I thought it helped me feel calmer, less anxious, and more confident. I tried to quit for my boyfriend, for my family, for money, and for my health, but nothing worked. Then I got a little rabbit, because rabbits had always been my favorite animals.
After only a few weeks, I started feeling awful every time I played with him and noticed my hands still smelled like smoke, even after washing them. Rabbits are so tiny and sensitive. I kept thinking about what it must be like for him to have that smell right in his face every day from me, the person he was supposed to trust. So I quit. He saved me from smelling like smoke forever and probably from getting cancer too.
44. Diesel Revved His Engines
My father was mowing the backyard with our John Deere 1520 and a brush hog attached. He had been out there for about an hour. When I looked out the window, I saw him mowing near the pond. Our property used to be farmland, and the ground is very soft, so the tractor left deep tracks all over the backfield. While my father was mowing, my Rottweiler, Diesel, started jumping around, grunting, and growling.
Then he ran to the back door and started whining. That was completely unlike him, so I let him out and followed him. When we came around the corner of the garage, I saw my father on the tractor, just seconds from tipping into the pond. His foot was stuck between the clutch and brake, and the ground under one side of the tractor had given way.
I got my father’s foot free and kept him from drowning, all because of my buddy Diesel.
45. Nut Job
My best man’s Boston terrier, Athena, jumped onto his groin. After spending a couple of days in pain, he finally gave in and went to the hospital. They ran some tests, and the scans showed he had early-stage testicular cancer, which was successfully treated. If it hadn’t been for that dog, who knows whether he’d still be here.
46. Sugar Rush
I was still fairly new to managing diabetes, and my late father always said our 20-year-old cat could tell when my blood sugar was dropping. One night, he leaped onto my stomach and started pawing at me. I noticed how shaky I felt and checked my blood sugar. It was dangerously low. He followed me into the kitchen while I got some sugar, then calmly went right back to sleep.
47. Snake In The Grass
One morning around 8:00 a.m., I went out for a run around my family’s property. My Doberman, Bonnie, always ran with me. I had my music on, so I had no idea what was right in front of me.
A copperhead was moving straight toward me. It struck and barely missed. As soon as I saw what it was, I panicked and fell. It came at me again, and Bonnie jumped in front of me and took the bite instead.
Her yelp was awful; it got her on the right hind leg. She twisted around, grabbed the snake, and tore it apart. Then she collapsed, breathing faster and faster. I picked her up, even though she was heavy, and carried her to my truck. I drove to the vet as fast as I could.
Thankfully, I got her there in time, and they were able to save her. My dog saved me from that copperhead.
48. There Was No Escaping
When I was about six, I lived near a lake. One day, I was splashing around with my grandma and my German shepherd. As I was coming out of the water, a man ran up and grabbed me. I started screaming while he carried me off. My grandma and I were both panicking, and there wasn’t much she could do.
My German shepherd lunged at the back of the man’s leg and took him down hard, and I went down too. It felt like something out of a movie, except it happened incredibly fast. The man managed to get away at first after fighting off my dog, but he later showed up at a hospital with bite wounds and was taken into custody soon after.
Who knows what might have happened if my dog hadn’t been there. He was the best dog I’ve ever had.
49. No Longer On The Fence About This Dog
One day, I was home alone and fell asleep in the living room. I woke up after dark and walked into the kitchen, which had a sliding glass door to the backyard. I could hear outside noises and my brother’s pit bull panting at the door. The door should not have been open. I hadn’t left it open, and when I turned on the light, it was wide open.
I immediately backed into the living room with that awful feeling that someone was in the house. I was already shaking as I sat down. I knew I had to check before I completely panicked, called for help, ran out of the house, or did anything else without being sure there was a reason to be afraid. So I nervously called in my brother’s dog.
I’d always been taught not to judge breeds, but I’d also grown up hearing not to trust a pit bull unless it had known you since it was a puppy. Before that night, I’ll admit, she scared me. But the moment she came inside, everything about her changed. She was 70 pounds of softness, but suddenly every bit of her was tense and alert.
She moved through the house in a guarded, watchful stance, quickly checking the area before returning to me and sitting close, leaning toward me. Once I grabbed her collar, she led me back to the door. I called my dad and brothers, and they both came over to look around. They told me I was overreacting and that I probably left the gate open, which let the dog nudge the glass door open.
I left with my dad to stay at my sister’s house, still sure the gate had been closed. The next day, though, my dad found something unsettling. He took me outside and showed me part of the fence with a ripped piece of fabric caught on top, like it had torn from someone’s shirt.
There was also a cluster of footprints—one set from a man and one from a dog—underneath it, along with a muddy mark on the wall and scratches from a dog trying to reach something. To this day, I wonder what might have happened if that dog had been locked in a kennel instead of loose in the yard. I’m not afraid of her anymore.
50. Dachsh-ed To The Rescue
When I was in sixth grade, my mom went grocery shopping, and when she came home, a man was inside our house stealing from us. When she came in through the kitchen door from the garage, he was waiting for her with a blade. He pulled her farther inside without closing the door. We had three dachshunds at the time, and all three ran outside right away.
They were terrified of this stranger in the house. They never went outside without us, and our next-door neighbor noticed them pacing near the garage door, whining and clearly upset. Because of that, the neighbor came over to see what was wrong. The man in our house pulled her inside too.
But my mom and the neighbor managed to break away and run in different directions. The man fled. He was caught the next day sleeping in a tent in someone’s backyard. If our dogs hadn’t run outside and cried for attention, my mom probably wouldn’t have made it out.
