A Canine Miracle

Every good and perfect gift comes down from above...

James 1:17

Juno, an abandoned Belgian Malinois whose previous owners did not understand the nature of this breed of dog, was three days away from being euthanized when a former law enforcement officer saw her picture on the shelter website.  He knew the breed well as trained police dogs, and needed just such a dog for his son, who suffers from Sanfilippo syndrome, an inherited metabolic and degenerative disease.  Children eventually lose the ability to speak, eat and walk, and experience neurological damage leading to seizures.  There is no cure or treatment available, and service dogs can run as high as $15,000.

The father adopted Juno, planning to give her plenty of time to adjust to the home before training her to help his son.  The dog, however, had other ideas.  Juno and the child had an immediate connection, and the dog instinctively knew how to assist him.  One day the father noticed the dog whining and nudging the boy with her nose.  He checked and found the boy's oxygen levels to be dangerously low.  After oxygen was administered and the boy began to feel better, the dog again took up her post next to the child's wheelchair.    "Somehow" the dog has the ability to detect neurological changes and alert the family when the boy is about to have a seizure or has very low oxygen levels.  She has saved his life several times, and devotes her time 24/7 to the little boy.

For me, there is no "somehow" in this wonderful story, and no happenstance in the father finding the dog's picture.  Juno's instinctive abilities to detect neurological changes in a human child were not taught her, but were placed inside of her by a loving Father who knew that those skills would be desperately needed by one special boy in Tennessee.  The father said, "It really feels like it was meant to be."  I couldn't agree more.