My hero dog told me there was an intruder in house

9:12am Saturday 17th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

AN heroic dog alerted her deaf owner to burglars by tugging at her night clothes before scaring off the intruders.

It was the second time the cavalier King Charles spaniel, which is called Lye, had gone beyond the call of duty for Nicola Willis, who is severely deaf.

She had also led a passer-by to Miss Willis, a mum-of-two, after she had fallen over in a Worcester alley by tugging at the man's trouser leg.

Lye, who acts as Miss Willis's ears, has now been named Hearing Dog of the Month.

"Lye is my constant and faithful companion, and a very special dog," Miss Willis said. "She is my ears and she has given me back my confidence and courage."

As reported in your Worcester News last week, Miss Willis regularly suffers abuse from people who do not understand Lye's role and is asked to leave shops and restaurants.

The five-year-old dog has been awarded the accolade by the charity which trained her, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, after they discovered what Lye had done.

The first incident happened when Miss Willis, who can lip read, was shopping in Worces-ter city centre.

She was recovering from a damaged knee and using crutches when she fell over in an alleyway.

"I just lay on the ground cold, scared and in pain," she said.

Lye ran off to the High Street, grabbed a man by the trouser leg and led him back to Miss Willis.

"He saw her coat and realised she must be telling him something so he followed her," she said.

On another occasion 39-year-old Miss Willis was asleep at her home in New Bank Street, Barbourne, Worcester, when Lye woke her by scratching on her chest.

She thought the dog wanted to go outside so sat up, but Lye grabbed her night clothes, dragged her back down and would not let her move.

It was enough for Miss Willis to know something was wrong so she put her hearing aid in, heard noises downstairs and realised there was an intruder.

"I panicked and did not know what to do but Lye just looked at me and told me in her own way she would not let any harm come to me or my girls," she said. "She then made enough noise to scare the burglars off."