Police credit a 15-year-old German Short-haired dog with alerting them to an elderly, unconscious man in Pine City, Minnesota.

Brett Grinde said he took Effie out for their usual walk one Monday evening, but within a couple minutes she started pulling on the leash, wanting to go in a different direction.

Effie then took off running, leading Grinde to a neighbor's house where a 94-year-old man was lying face down on his driveway. The dog started licking the man's face. Grinde called 911, then started CPR.

KARE-TV reported the elderly man, William Lepsch, regained consciousness and is in serious condition at North Memorial Medical Center. Regretably, Mr. Lepsch did not survive long.

Source: KARE-TV, http://www.kare11.com

It has been documented many times before - dogs rescuing elderly accident victims or even their owners. I have also seen reports of dogs being able to sense when their owner was going to have a heart attack or stroke and alerting him or a caregiver beforehand.

One woman has even related a story of how their retriever would jump up on her, pin her down, and press its nose firmly on her chest. She had a mammogram done and a lump was detected early enough to be treated.

Pets have been recommended for years as good therapy, but especially dogs because of their ability to interact with the owner and, in many cases, relieve stress or encourage them to participate in a more active lifestyle.

Dogs are actually used recreationally in nursing homes simply due to the affect they have on certain ailments like depression or loneliness. They crave attention and want to be acknowledged. Our natural reaction is to give it to them.

Their satisfaction in pleasing us makes us, in turn, want to please them. Automatically we get happier and they become more loyal to keeping us in that particular mood. Detecting a difference in our health or chemistry is what they do best, and that's why they may know when something is wrong well before we do.

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