Dog's wakeup call comes just in time

[MeSheLL]

Dog's wakeup call comes just in time

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) - J.J. Fritz got a wonderful wakeup call from a pit bull.

Fritz, 25, lives in Fremont with 3-year-old Jessie, an 85-pound pit bull.

Jessie showed what a fine pal she could be recently after Fritz had surgery.

After having a piece of bone removed from his right elbow, Fritz was told that
he might have a little bleeding and to keep an eye on it.

Fritz was at home asleep the night after his surgery when Jessie began whining,
pulling on his left sleeve and nosing his arm.

Normally, Jessie doesn't get up at night, but Fritz thought the dog might have
to go outside.

"Then I could feel how warm my arm was from the blood," Fritz said.

His large bandage was soaked.

So Fritz went to the Fremont Area Medical Center.

Dr. Richard Ward, the emergency room physician, said he discovered that a small
artery had been nicked during surgery. It had taken awhile for blood to soak
through the bandage.

Fritz thinks he might have bled to death had the dog not awakened him.

Ward isn't quite sure that's the case. But he said that Fritz might have lost a
significant amount of blood had it not been for Jessie.

"It's really great what his dog did," Ward said. "Those dogs (pit bulls) get a
bad rap. At least they should get a good rap for doing the right thing."