Dogs are loyal to a fault. They love you regardless of whether you are rich or poor, black or white, short or tall—give them your heart and they will give you endless loyalty and love in return. Dogs also have incredible intuition. When a guest at a wedding in Nigeria was behaving strangely, one dog saved hundreds of lives…
A Dog’s Instinct
Dog people know that the intuition of a dog is almost always on point. People joke and say things like “if your dog doesn’t like someone, you probably shouldn’t either.” But there’s actually more to this than just a funny one-liner…
Scent Skills
Dogs noses are insanely powerful. Their noses communicate and interpret other beings entire story nonverbally. Chemical aromas communicate everything a dog needs to know when they meet another person or animal. This vital skill is put to use around the world for work in search and rescue, personal protection, and military and police pursuits, among many other jobs. In the case of this story though, one dog’s scent skills saved countless lives…
Human Cues
Aside from their scent skills, dogs are also incredible at reading human cues. Body language, touch, and tone of voice are all cues that dogs use to figure out a person. But ultimately, it’s their loyalty that has humans completely hooked on their dogs…
Loyal to a Fault
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans began to domesticate dogs, and now, we’ve developed mutually beneficial relationships with our canine pals. Because of this deep relationship, dog’s have been known to protect their humans, no matter the cost. One dog’s ability to read nonverbal human behavior ended up saving hundreds of lives at a Nigerian wedding ceremony…
Nigerian Wedding Ceremonies
Nigerian wedding ceremonies are all-out affairs full of bright colors, loud, celebratory music, and ancient traditions. The festivities for a Nigerian wedding begin way before the big day, though…
Introduction Ceremony
The two families coming together have an Introduction Ceremony long before the wedding where they exchange gifts. The bride’s family presents the potential groom with a list of things they require in order to accept the engagement and impending nuptials. This dowry increases if the bride-to-be is college educated and holds a degree or doctorate. Only when the bride’s family have been satisfied with the man’s efforts, will engagement be allowed to proceed…
Age Order
Sometimes though, weddings have to be postponed due to a cultural tradition that demands men be married only after their eldest brothers have been wed. Luckily, in the case of this couple, the groom’s one older brother had already tied the knot.
The Big Day
Nigerian couples don’t just have one celebration. They often have two weddings days or weeks apart from the first. Traditional Igbo wedding attire includes a lace blouse a bright kaftan-like skirt with coral beads and head tie. Often brides will choose to wear a white wedding gown for the ceremony and dress traditionally for the reception. Then, comes the wild guest list…
What Guest List?
When it comes to the guest list at a Nigerian wedding, well, there is none. Everyone is invited and the couple must prepare for the max amount of guests. The couple also decides what color and fabrics they want each side of the family to wear to the wedding. These are referred to as “Aso-Ebi” meaning “family clothes.” Guests prepare these garments months in advance…
One Guest in Particular
One of the guests attending the village wedding had a tag-a-long…his dog! Because the event was outdoors in the middle of the village, though, his unconventional date was welcomed at the celebration, and soon, would unexpectedly become the guest-of-honor…
Belbelo Village
The wedding took place in the small Belbelo village, near the northeastern city of Maiduguri, Nigeria. It was a celebration unlike any other and everyone in the village was dressed to the nines and excited for a fun night of partying and celebrating the newlyweds.
Making Their Rounds
Onlookers clapped and cheered as the newlyweds walked through the village. They greeted their guests with big smiles on their faces, having no inclination of the impending darkness that was headed their way…
A Beautiful Wedding
The ceremony itself was beautiful. A local band in the village played traditional Nigerian music and the guests looked on in awe. The bride was stunning and her groom pledged his forever love and devotion to her.
An Odd Onlooker
The village was bustling with excitement during the wedding, but there was one onlooker, a young girl in her teens, who stayed back, watching curiously from the edge of the village. She was interested, yet cautious, seemingly afraid of something…
Under the Radar
The young girl didn’t call attention to herself. She didn’t join in on the festivities, either. She just watched, seemingly fearful, yet no one had paid her much mind…
Sensing Something
…No one except for the guest with the dog. The man’s dog started to pace and pant, constantly staring in the direction of the young girl. He tried to keep his dog calm, but the pup was clearly quite agitated…
Taking Off
Out of nowhere, his dog took off towards the lonely girl at the edge of the village. The man attempted to stop him but he had sped off so fast there was nothing he could do…
Pulling Her Away
And before he could even reach his dog, he watched in horror as his dog launched itself at the young girl. His dog pulled incessantly at her clothing, barking loudly, dragging her away from the village…
The Explosion
And then, suddenly, and without warning, there was a deafening explosion…
Hidden Explosives
Suddenly, the truth had hit everyone… the seemingly inconspicuous young girl had had explosives strapped to her body, hidden beneath her clothing. Chaos ensued…
Clearing the Area
Immediately, military personnel arrived at the village. They began to clear the area, assisting the shocked wedding guests away from the violent scene…
Two Victims
The young girl had not survived the explosion, and unfortunately, neither had the man’s heroic dog. Luckily, though, the dog had pulled the girl far enough away from the celebration that no one else was harmed. Something was clearly problematic about the situation, though…
Local Terrorism
Local officials connected the attempted suicide bomber to the Boko Haram, a terrorist organization that has been using young women around Nigeria for suicide bomb attacks. And that wasn’t the only attempt in Maiduguri that very same day…
Three Attempts
A few hours prior, three suicide bombers had attempted two similar attacks in nearby towns and were thankfully stopped. The Nigerian military had been on high alert when this third attempt of the day had luckily been stopped by a canine hero…
The Hero
Police spokesman Victor Isuku confirmed to The Associated Press that the dog had intervened to save the wedding party. Buba Ahmed, a resident of the area, told the Associated Press that the “guests are grateful that the dog sacrificed itself to save their lives.”
Soft Targets
A multinational force has driven Boko Haram extremists out of most towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria, but the extremists have resorted to attacking soft targets with suicide bombers, soft targets like this village wedding…
Hero Through Horror
What was supposed to be a joyous and celebratory occasion instead ended in sheer horror. The dog is being hailed as a hero, as he sacrificed his life to save the day, and yet, this isn’t the first instance of a dog saving the lives of humans…
Khan the Brave
Khan, a Doberman Pinscher, was adopted from an animal shelter just seven days before saving the life of his new youngest human, a 17-month-old little girl named Charlotte. When a King Brown snake approached the toddler, Khan acted immediately and pushed her away taking the bite himself. Luckily, he was given an anti-venom shot and is recuperating from the situation.
TaterTot to the Rescue
Peyton’s family had just started to foster TaterTot when the dog began acting strangely when Peyton was down for a nap. He was barking and running back and forth between Christi and Peyton’s room and didn’t stop until Christi entered Peyton’s room. She found him barely breathing and he wasn’t waking up, so they rushed him to the hospital. If it hadn’t been for TaterTot, Peyton wouldn’t be alive, so of course, the family adopted the hero pooch.
Katrina -vs- Katrina
This Black Labrador, Katrina, saved a drowning man in the rising floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Katrina. She had to stay afloat until rescue teams were able to reach her and the man in the violent water.
Four-Legged Heroes
Dogs have proven time and time again that they are truly deserving of the phrase “man’s best friend.” By doing everything they can to save their family and friends from danger, some special dogs truly define what it means to be courageous, selfless, and determined.