STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
By Justine Kelsie

Dog named “Kitty” saves Grande Prairie man

Jun 29, 2018 | 4:59 AM

A Grande Prairie resident has his dog to thank for saving his life during a hiking trip last weekend.

Darrel Comeau was hiking the G3 summit in the Grande Cache area with friends. While climbing down from one of the peaks, they realized they were not going to be making it back to their base camp. The group was prepared for that and set up an emergency shelter.

“We went to bed and everything was fine. My dog, Kitty, was acting a little bit needier than usual, but I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.

“At about four in the morning, I woke up to him smacking me in the face and whining. I rolled over to tell him to stop and give him trouble, but I realized I wasn’t breathing. I couldn’t cough or say any words. There was no air coming in or out.”

The hiker soon realized that his uvula was swollen. Comeau woke up the other campers and they were able to get him to take an antihistamine. Once that kicked in, he was able to collect himself and the group hiked down to their base camp and carried on down the mountain.

During a trip like this, Kitty’s behaviour wasn’t typical of the two-and-a-half-year-old canine, according to the owner.

“If he wants to go outside or wants something, he will go to the door and scratch or whine. When we are camping, he never stays next to me. He usually finds a nice spot to lay down. That night, he wouldn’t leave my side.”

When they got down from the mountain, the man treated the dog to a burger and headed for the QEII Hospital in the city to get checked out. He still isn’t sure what the infection was from and is waiting on results from the doctor.

He says one thing is for sure, Kitty will be taking many more trips with him in the future. Comeau’s other dog Chewy was also on the trip but didn’t show too much concern.

He says if Kitty wasn’t on the trip, there probably would have been a different outcome. 

by Justine Kelsie