Paul and Shearon Horton have long known their five-year-old Golden Retriever, Yogi, is special.
Last October they learned just how special he is when Paul jumped a curb on his bike near Lake Travis, not far from his home.
“I went over the handle bars, and landed on my head on the concrete,” Horton said. “I was probably unconscious very briefly.”
The fall also partly paralyzed him. Fortunately, Yogi was there. Worried he could die on the side of the road, Paul told him to get help.
“I can’t say that I knew what he would do, but I had a reasonable expectation that he would somehow lead someone to me,” Horton said.
That someone turned out to be the Horton’s neighbors, Bruce and Maggie Tate. They were walking their dog when Yogi found them.
“He was visibly upset,” Bruce Tate said. “He was trying to bring us somewhere.”
Maggie Tate said she could tell that something was wrong.
“We were like, 'Yogi, Yogi where is Paul?'” she said. “And he took off.”
Yogi led them straight to Paul, who was hidden from view. Doctors say Yogi saved his life.
On Tuesday, months after the accident, the Humane Society of the United States presented Yogi with its Valor Dog of the Year award, a national honor.
The Hortons received a crystal statue that resembles their dog. It helped them mark an end to a dark chapter, and give thanks to a dog that cannot be thanked enough.
