German shepherd wakes owner from stroke, saves his life

'Czardoz' is a hero in the Oregon Animal Hall of Fame

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Mar 26, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Jonathan House / The Beaverton Valley Times

WONDER DOG – Terry Thaden’s dog Zar was inducted into the Oregon Animal Hall of Fame.

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Czardoz is a gentle giant, who is never more than a couple steps from Terry Thaden’s side.

It’s that special bond and devotion to his owner that made the 128-pound German shepherd a hero.

Zar, as Thaden calls him, was the dog of the hour during the Oregon Veterinary Conference held March 14 in Corvallis, where the state’s Veterinary Medical Association and Animal Health Foundation inducted him into the Oregon Animal Hall of Fame as a hero for saving the life of his human companion.

In January 2008, Zar had settled down for the night on a rug on his side of the bed in Thaden’s Aloha home.

Even though the dog was on several medications for a newly diagnosed platelet problem, he sensed that something was wrong with his 67-year-old owner.

At about 3:30 a.m., Zar roughly nudged Thaden on the shoulder with his snout and began loudly barking.

“He’s never on my side of the bed,” Thaden recalled. “At first, I thought he might need to go outside.”

But after being startled awake and getting up to put on a pair of sweats, Thaden realized he was in a slight fog.

“My left hand was in a grip, and I could barely talk,” he said. “I knew right away what it was — I was having a stroke.”

He dialed 9-1-1 and put his dog in the garage, where Zar could access the backyard.

Emergency crews transported Thaden to the hospital, where doctors conducted a series of tests and admitted him for further observation and treatment for a couple days.

Once he was settled in his hospital room, Thaden called Zar’s veterinarian, Paige Pierce at Pacific Veterinary Hospital in Portland, to let her know what had happened. Pierce left the practice to retrieve Zar and boarded him at the clinic until Thaden was released from the hospital and able to pick up his dog.

Thaden learned he had suffered an aneurism, which prompted the stroke.

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