Words by Gabby W. | As told by GUNNER
The GUNNER kennel helped save my dog's life, and then my dog helped save mine.
It was a freak accident. I was driving through Nashville with my GSD, Bodhi, and came to a stop light where I needed to make an unprotected left turn. I had my turn signal on waiting to turn since it was such a hectic intersection. As soon as I turned down, another driver was speeding and we suddenly t-boned. I slammed on my brakes, knocked into the other driver, and wedged the other vehicle between my Tahoe and a telephone pole.
I got out of the car as soon as I could to check on the other driver. It was an older woman so I wanted to ensure she was ok. I was freaking out in the heat of the situation, but Bodhi did not even cross my mind since I knew he was in the kennel and totally fine. We called 911 to come and they quickly showed up to help with the situation. At that point, I knew I needed to get Bodhi out of the car since there was still oncoming traffic through the intersection. I kept telling the paramedic that I needed to get my dog, but he kept telling me to sit and wait.
Long story short, I was then crying and having a whole physical PTSD panic attack. In those situations, my body thinks I’m unsafe, my brain slips, and I can’t talk or see straight. Everyone kept asking me what I needed, and I could only think of Bodhi.
Bodhi has been training to be a fully equipped Service Dog, but he’d never performed deep pressure therapy (DPT) in an emergency before. Even though I didn’t know how he would respond, I just had a feeling he would be able to perform his task and help get me through the moment.
The lead paramedic went to the car to open the kennel (he was in the Large), and instead of jumping on the paramedic, Bodhi immediately went into search mode and started dragging his leash to come to find me.
He ran right up to me and put his body weight on me to help me shake it out and get through the panic. I regained full consciousness about 10 minutes after that.
I talked to the officers after everything calmed down a bit, and they had nothing but high praise on how Bodhi handled the situation. When he’s working or playing he can get frustrated naturally and start whining, but I’ve never seen him behave in such a calm and collected manner in the heat of a moment like that. Before the accident, I had minor doubts about his abilities since working line GSDs have a lot of drive, but this really proved to me that I shouldn’t have any doubt in him. He has a natural instinct and connection with me that I can’t even explain. He did such a good job.
The crazy thing is that if he was injured or hurt during the accident, he probably wouldn’t have been able to perform his service.
It is obviously a sucky situation, but it honestly felt like a miracle that I had him in a GUNNER. The fact that he was able to remain calm and safe enough in the kennel so he could still perform after the wreck, with all the paramedics and cops around...I’m just so thankful that the kennel even exists. I can’t stop thinking about it.
A lot of people complain about the price, but the safety of my dog’s care is worth every penny. I don’t mind the payment plans on the Large if it means getting exactly what I need for Bodhi. Next on my list is to get the Tie-Down Straps so his kennel doesn’t slide around the car again. This accident really showed me that you never know how non-crash-tested accessories will perform, and the expense is worth it for Bodhi’s safety.
Bodhi’s GUNNER is what kept him alive so he could start his career as a service dog. It’s one of the best dog products I’ve ever seen on the market because it’s genuinely saving lives.
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