Dog hero without a snout
October 16, 2012 7:46 AM   Subscribe

 
Q: But how does he smell?
A: Terrible!
posted by zamboni at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2012 [12 favorites]


What is heroic about this injured dog?
posted by Nomyte at 7:50 AM on October 16, 2012


This is an interesting story, but folks should be aware that the photos are a bit disturbing.

What is heroic about this injured dog?

from the article: Kabang lost her nose about a year ago when she lept in front of a motorcycle to save the lives of two young girls in the Philippines.
posted by HuronBob at 7:52 AM on October 16, 2012 [3 favorites]


Hooray for the little dog!
posted by griphus at 7:53 AM on October 16, 2012


folks should be aware that the photos are a bit disturbing

This should definitely be above the fold.
posted by elizardbits at 7:54 AM on October 16, 2012 [7 favorites]


In case the "without a snout" isn't warning enough?

Besides, it's just a disability, nothing scary or gorey.
posted by MartinWisse at 7:57 AM on October 16, 2012


Besides, it's just a disability, nothing scary or gorey.

ummmm...no

Anything that makes me gasp and mutter "oh god no!" goes instantly into the scary/gorey/don't ever let this happen to my pup cubbyhole!
posted by HuronBob at 8:00 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


she lept in front of a motorcycle to save the lives of two young girls in the Philippines

I'm finding it pretty hard to picture a situation in which a dog jumping in front of a motorcycle saves the lives of two young girls. I'm finding it even harder to picture a situation in which the dog does this as a part of a consciously conceived plan purposefully designed to bring about that outcome.
posted by yoink at 8:02 AM on October 16, 2012


I'm finding it pretty hard to picture a situation in which a dog jumping in front of a motorcycle saves the lives of two young girls. I'm finding it even harder to picture a situation in which the dog does this as a part of a consciously conceived plan purposefully designed to bring about that outcome.

It happens..
posted by HuronBob at 8:06 AM on October 16, 2012 [9 favorites]


We've spent ten thousand years breeding dogs to value and protect human life. I'm not sure what's so inconceivable about this circumstance as opposed to the countless others where dogs have saved lives.
posted by griphus at 8:09 AM on October 16, 2012 [14 favorites]


Warning: Dog Without a Snout.
posted by 2N2222 at 8:13 AM on October 16, 2012


It's not about the snout.
posted by hal9k at 8:14 AM on October 16, 2012


Les chiens sans visage
Dog without a face
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:15 AM on October 16, 2012 [2 favorites]


Q: But how does he smell?
A: Terrible With his olfactory nerve cells, located right at the back of his snout.

/Captain Serious
posted by MuffinMan at 8:15 AM on October 16, 2012 [4 favorites]


It happens..

It surely does.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2012



We've spent ten thousand years breeding dogs to value and protect human life. I'm not sure what's so inconceivable about this circumstance as opposed to the countless others where dogs have saved lives.


Obviously It's the lack of snout that makes it remarkable.
posted by Liquidwolf at 8:21 AM on October 16, 2012


er, that was a response to yoink.
posted by griphus at 8:24 AM on October 16, 2012


(And the lack of snout makes me want to give this dog ALL THE HUGS. It needs EXTRA HUGS people, get ON IT.)
posted by griphus at 8:24 AM on October 16, 2012 [5 favorites]


It happens..

It surely does.

Thank you for those examples, not one of which is remotely relevant to either this case or my skepticism about it.

You seem to think I wrote "I cannot conceive of a dog ever doing anything that would benefit anyone or anything other than itself." I didn't. I said that I can't conceive of the circumstance in which a dog throwing itself in front of a motorcycle would be A) a good plan to save two girls who would otherwise clearly die if the dog were not so throw itself and B) a plan that a dog would be capable of conceiving such that its decision to throw itself in front of the motorcycle was clearly and inarguably a result of a conscious calculation about the risks posed to the two girls.

It is worth bearing in mind, by the way, that "dog does X and Y good thing results" is not quite the same thing as "dog does X with conscious intent to bring about Y good result, in full awareness of the risks involved." A "dog kills snake that may or may not have gone on to kill baby" story, for example, is, from the dog's p.o.v. not really any different from a "my stupid dog went and killed that harmless snake" story.
posted by yoink at 8:25 AM on October 16, 2012 [3 favorites]


Yoink... Looks like you've got your mind made up about this... Obviously, since we can't ask the dogs, we'll never know their intent when something like this happens.

I'm happy to believe that, based on my interaction and observation of some brave, loyal, smart and affectionate pups that they do, indeed, act with the intent to prevent harm to their companions, be they two or four footed. I would find believing otherwise to be difficult.
Peace...
posted by HuronBob at 8:33 AM on October 16, 2012 [5 favorites]


It happens..

We've spent ten thousand years breeding dogs to value and protect human life. I'm not sure what's so inconceivable about this circumstance as opposed to the countless others where dogs have saved lives.

I have no doubt dogs will behave in a way that is explained by pack mentality. Some of the stories are a bit Timmy-fell-down-the-well-ish, like you wouldn't be surprised if a dog jumped on a grenade to save his master. For better or worse, every dog I've ever had or associated with has been of the average dopey/annoying/lovable type that at most, might take predictable sides in a group conflict when it comes to protecting humans.
posted by 2N2222 at 8:37 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


they do, indeed, act with the intent to prevent harm to their companions, be they two or four footed

Yes, of course they do. You're really trying very hard to read something into my posts which simply is not there. Dogs have often selflessly given their lives to protect their masters. That's not remotely in dispute.

What is in dispute is that this specific instance was one such case. I notice a lot of "OMG how dare you question the true and noble love that dogs have for their masters human companions" in the replies to me, but not a lot of "yes, here's an entirely plausible scenario in which a dog could calculate that throwing itself in front of a motorcycle would be the optimum strategy for saving the lives of two young girls."
posted by yoink at 8:47 AM on October 16, 2012


"Obviously, since we can't ask the dogs, we'll never know...."

Oh, but they DID ask the dog!
When asked "How would it have been for the girls if they'd been hit by that motorcycle?" the dog said: "Rough."
posted by Floydd at 8:48 AM on October 16, 2012 [5 favorites]


I have no problem with the concept that a dog will protect a companion. I also have no problem with the concept that a dog knows about injury. I don't know that a dog knows what will injure a human. Jupming on a grenade? Does the dog know that some objects explode? Jumping in front a motorcycle? I dunno, I guess it is possible a dog knows fast moving objects can hurt you.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:48 AM on October 16, 2012


I'm finding it pretty hard to picture a situation in which expending this many words to be skeptical of the premise of TFA makes any sense.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:54 AM on October 16, 2012 [10 favorites]


You know, dogs can do some pretty amazing things, and we often don't appreciate them.

Just last week I was driving and I saw a sign in front of a house:

"Talking Dog For Sale."

I rang the bell, and the owner tells me the dog is in the backyard.
I go into the backyard and see a Labrador Retriever sitting there.

"You talk?" I asked.
"Yep," the Lab replies.
"So, what's your story?"
The Lab looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when
I was pretty young, and I wanted to help the government; so I told the
CIA about my gift, and in no time at all they had me jetting from
country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders,
because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of
their most valuable spies for eight years running."

"But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't
getting any younger so I wanted to settle down. I signed up for a
job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly
wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some
incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married,
had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired."

I mean, I believe in the abilities of dogs to do great things and help mankind but this was fantastic! I went back in and asked the owner what he wants
for the dog.

"Ten dollars."

I said "This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him
so cheap?"

"Because he's a liar. He didn't do any of that shit."
posted by HuronBob at 8:58 AM on October 16, 2012 [21 favorites]


Nope.

Nopey nope. I seriously used to have recurring bad dreams as a kid that involved being chased by dogs that looked like this. I am not exaggerating. Thanks, I'm sure I'm due for some more of those dreams any night now.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:59 AM on October 16, 2012


I'm finding it pretty hard to picture a situation in which expending this many words to be skeptical of the premise of TFA makes any sense.

I assume some sort of complicated SAW-esque murder machine that will stop only if all joy on the internet is extinguished.
posted by griphus at 9:02 AM on October 16, 2012 [9 favorites]


I'm finding it even harder to picture a situation in which the dog does this as a part of a consciously conceived plan purposefully designed to bring about that outcome.

Never had a dog I see.

Did the dog calculate the vector at which it should bounce off of the front wheel that would cause the motorcycle to careen away? No. It saw smal humans in imminent danger and rushed in between them and the danger. Any possessive dog will do this if someone it doesn't like gets too close to its owner, but in that case it's annoying and not heroic. It's an incredibly normal dog behavior to put itself between perceived danger and its apparently perceived charge.
posted by cmoj at 9:03 AM on October 16, 2012 [7 favorites]


I have no trouble believing it. From the dog's point of view, something large and loud is charging at a human. She jumps in front of the charging scary thing and starts barking to try to scare it away from the humans.

Obviously, in this case a motorcycle not going to get scared away, but it's totally plausible that (a) the barking alerted the motorcycle to something in his path, when he might have been distracted before, or (b) the motorcycle hits the dog, deflecting away from the children.

Is it plausible that the dog's plan worked in the way her mango-sized brain intended? No, of course not. Was it an intentional action? Totally plausible. Did this action prevent harm to the children? Again, totally plausible.

Conclusion: hero dog.
posted by supercres at 9:06 AM on October 16, 2012 [7 favorites]


I'm finding it pretty hard to picture a situation in which expending this many words to be skeptical of the premise of TFA makes any sense

I also take issue with BuzzFeed's framing.

Kabang is the coolest dog you will read about all day.
posted about a day ago


How do they know that some other cool dog story will not pop up later today? how do they know I am not some kind of dog researcher with a grant to study cool dogs and I don't just read about cool dogs all day? There are also a lot of assumptions made by BuzzFeed about what kind of dogs I think are cool. There is a slight chance I don't think this dog is cool at all.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:06 AM on October 16, 2012 [3 favorites]


Orrrr... what cmoj beat me to.
posted by supercres at 9:06 AM on October 16, 2012


I am less concerned about the dog's intent than I am about its cavalier attitude as to its own gender.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:07 AM on October 16, 2012


I'm finding it even harder to picture a situation in which the dog does this as a part of a consciously conceived plan purposefully designed to bring about that outcome.

Is it really that hard to conceive of a dog seeing an oncoming motorcycle as a threat to its "pack"?
Sheesh. The dog is being called a "hero" for preventing a motorcycle from killing two girls. It's that simple.

Next you'll be saying that any human who rushes into a situation to save someone shouldn't be a hero if they're quoted as saying "I didn't think! I just acted on instinct!" Oh, wait, they didn't calculate the trajectory of the falling child and the six possible outcomes based on the situation at hand before rushing to break their fall? No hero for you.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:09 AM on October 16, 2012 [2 favorites]


Oh man what happened to the person on the motorcycle. Careening off the road with a snout stuck to the front wheel.
posted by chococat at 9:14 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh man what happened to the person on the motorcycle.

Today he is known as the Ghost Rider.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:16 AM on October 16, 2012 [4 favorites]


Our dog would always put herself between us little kids and anything big, loud or unknown. Not in a hostile way, but in a genial, happy dog way... unless the big, loud or unknown thing rushed toward us, in which case the growly came out.

She was a chubby, friendly collie mix - my uncle called her an "AKC-registered Fuzzy Grunter" - and she flat out leveled the neighbors "guard dog" doberman when he got off his chain and went after my sister.

I can definitely see this dog snapping at something large, loud and unknown headed towards the kids, and if that something is the front wheel of a motorbike, I can see how it would horribly injure the animal, and throw the bike off-course enough to save the girls.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:19 AM on October 16, 2012 [2 favorites]


the dog said: "Rough."

I bet in this case the dog actually said, "ffnuuugh"
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 9:22 AM on October 16, 2012 [3 favorites]


I hate to be a Lovecraft in Brooklyn, but there was a save-the-whales FPP some time ago in which someone commented that they'd kill all the orangutans to save the life of a single hobo, and it got a ton of favorites. Twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money. Dogs are cuter than orangutans/hobos.
posted by Nomyte at 9:23 AM on October 16, 2012


Our dog would always put herself between us little kids and anything big, loud or unknown.

Yeah, this is totally normal pack behavior, and I am super confused as to why someone would so vehemently insist that we're all stupid for ascribing this behavior to this particular case.
posted by elizardbits at 9:32 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


Without bitter poffins the hobo is only of average intelligence.
posted by elizardbits at 9:40 AM on October 16, 2012


The Hobo King has been at peace with the Guild of Orangutans for many a year, let us not threaten the Great Accord.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:50 AM on October 16, 2012 [7 favorites]


My dog attempts to protect me from menacing motorcycles all the time. She doesn't quite grasp that the human invention known as a "curb" separating the street from the sidewalk does that job quite well most of the time.
posted by drlith at 9:52 AM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'm finding it pretty hard to picture a situation in which a dog jumping in front of a motorcycle saves the lives of two young girls.

Not me. The only reason I live to type this is that when I was a little, little girl, my collie/german shepherd mix ran after me, grabbed the back of my pants, and pulled me backward out of the path of an oncoming car.

He made it his mission in life to protect me. He didn't always get the risk of harm right . . . he did not think I should ever go into the water, on a raft or not, or ever be tossed in the air . . . but it wasn't any mistake that he saved me.

Dogs are amazing. I hope this surgery for this dog is a roaring success.
posted by bearwife at 10:44 AM on October 16, 2012 [8 favorites]


Ad hominem: I dunno, I guess it is possible a dog knows fast moving objects can hurt you.
Pretty damned sure my dog understands this.

Come to think of it, my goldfish understand this.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:03 AM on October 16, 2012


Pretty damned sure my dog understands this.

Come to think of it, my goldfish understand this.


I see your point. I did however have a Siamese fighting fish named Barack Obama and I'm not sure he understood this.
posted by Ad hominem at 11:28 AM on October 16, 2012 [2 favorites]


My grandmother's dog used to eat bees. But ONLY when they were around the toddler grandkids. He also used to bark at the kids and "herd" them away whenever he saw a snake in the grass (rural area).
posted by michellenoel at 4:09 PM on October 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


Did anyone else think of The Violator from Spawn when they saw the dog?

But seriously this is odd to me because this is the second dog like this I have ever seen...and really it is one more than I would have liked to see. I lived in Tela, Honduras for a summer back in high school and there was a local street dog that looked exactly like this that the local people were quite fond of. It was amazingly well adjusted and still managed to live and eat without anyone taking care of it - and its gory nasal stump looked almost exactly the one in these pictures. Local lore had it that its snout was whacked off by a plane propeller as it was nosing around the local airstrip. Definitely shocking to see...but I'm glad both dogs have managed so well. Dog power!
posted by jnnla at 5:03 PM on October 16, 2012


Did anyone else think of The Violator from Spawn when they saw the dog?

YES. I've been trying to put a finger on that all day!
posted by griphus at 7:37 PM on October 16, 2012


treatment for heartworm and chemo to treat a cancerous tumor

I'd sort of worked myself round to looking on all this as a positive symbol of some kind about human nature, however irrational: but really at this point, for God's sake shoot the bloody thing.
posted by Segundus at 2:12 AM on October 17, 2012




That's nothing...my cat saved me from a...

Wait...OK, I got it. My cat totally rescued a...no, that's not it, either.

OK, well, my cat chewed up a roll of toilet paper and unfurled it all over the bathroom.

WHERE'S HER HERO MEDAL, HUH?
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:08 PM on October 17, 2012


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