No one likes unwanted attention, but when that attention becomes obsessive, it often points to a stalker. This is what Emily Larson faced in the late 80s and early 90s. A former client was relentlessly following and watching her. This would have been disturbing enough had Emily been able to watch out for herself, but she was legally blind, and the only soul looking out for Emily was her Seeing Eye Dog, “Shadow,” a yellow Labrador Retriever. Police could do nothing until the man did something more overt.

That Shadow refused to exit the house for his morning constitutional one day was unusual enough, but when he blocked the open door and barked furiously, Emily got scared and called the police. An officer found Emily’s stalker across the street from her house, knives and hammers hidden under his coat. After he confessed, he was convicted of attempted murder. Shadow  saved his mistress’ life, and for this, he received Massachusetts’ SPCA Gold Medal award in 1992.

Image is not of Shadow, but is another great dog helping his person.