Brett Grinde and his hero dog Effie.
Brett Grinde, a long-time investigator with the Pine County Sheriff's Department in Pine City, MN, was taking his elderly dog Effie out for their walk one late afternoon. After only walking a short distance, the 15-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer began to pull at her leash. She seemed determine to go a different way than where they normally walked. According to Grinde, "she basically started pulling to the right and 99 percent, we go left. Effie has never, ever done that and hasn't pulled in a long time."
Not sure what the Pointer was trying to do and with her nose to the ground, Grinde removed the leash. She ran down the road and turned into a driveway. "So I'm running, and I cut the corner of the driveway and I look, and she's standing by an older gentleman that's laying face down," Grinde said.
Grinde initially thought that the man was dead, but he was able to keep his airwaves open and call 911. Effie started licking the man's face and then she would turn to her master. As a police officer, Grinde says that he was very familiar with first response and CPR. After a short while, the man began to groan and regained consciousness. While Grinde was working he said that, "Effie laid down on his (the man) other side and then came and nudged me on the elbows and just kind of stood over him."
Police believe that the man went out for the mail or to take out the garbage, slipped on the ice and may have been outside for hours. When the family stopped by to thank Grinde, he simply said to thank my dog. "I never thought in a million years something like this would happen," said Grinde, "but it was meant to be. It was in God's hands and somebody turned her that way."