Owner knew something was up when dog started barking constantly on walk — what he did next helped rescue an 86-year-old
Dogs have an intact sense of vigilance and their hints should not go unnoticed. A 2-year-old mini-doodle, Oliver, and his pet parent, Michael Tutolo, were on a walk in the snow when the dog started barking frantically, per CBS News. The canine wouldn't stop and Tutolo decided to pay heed to his call and investigate further. To his surprise, he found that an 86-year-old man, Lawrence Conklin, was in dire need of help. Thanks to the rescue dog’s persistence, he was able to venture and help rescue the elderly man from a place where no one would have guessed to find him.
Tutolo was walking his dog and when he started barking, he knew something was wrong. "He was just barking constantly and that's what he does whenever he sees something," the pet parent pointed out. He mentioned that Oliver is usually alert and hears animals and other sounds but his frantic barking felt like an indication that someone was there. The man paid attention to the barking and ventured in the direction where the dog was focused. Around 200 yards away from the road, he spotted a red jeep. "We saw the car and all around it was ice," he recalled.
Because of the condition the jeep was in, it didn’t seem like someone was there. It was likely that the vehicle was stuck. However, because the dog refused to stop barking, Tutolo had to check closely. "We couldn't open the doors, it was all fogged up but he was going crazy barking so I figured somebody must be there, I thought I saw the brake light but I wasn't quite sure,” the man recalled. When he couldn’t do anything on his own, Tutolo decided to call the emergency services for help. When they arrived, they found the 86-year-old trapped inside the jeep.
Conklin had reportedly gone to visit a friend by himself in the freezing temperatures. His daughter, Allie Cunningham, suspected that his blood sugar had dropped, leading to an accident that left him trapped inside his vehicle. The man was trapped for 15 hours overnight in his car, in the biting cold. It was only Oliver’s persistent call that helped authorities find and rescue him. Luckily, the man was only showing symptoms of hypothermia and had no other injuries. Tutolo noted that his car was trapped in such a way that it was hard for anyone to notice. The residents in the area, too, didn’t hear any concerning noises.
"I kind of figured, why didn't he beep the horn or make a lot of noise or something, why was he still there, but then we found out later he was fairly old, no cell phone," Tutolo explained. "We utilized a stokes basket and a rope system to get him to a flat area and then we put him into a pickup truck to get him the rest of the way to the ambulance," Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company #3 Deputy Chief Scott Gloer shared. He added that because the man’s car was running for a while after the accident, the damage was minimized and delayed. The rescue dog is being hailed as a hero for his vigilance and action that helped save the man’s life.