What did we ever do to deserve dogs?
They truly are man and woman’s best friend, and in this backyard in Connecticut, the Golden Retriever also acted as this boy’s best body guard. Pets can often raise a person’s quality of life, especially at the mental and emotional level, and this video proves that they can legitimately be life savers.
Gavin Grant, a 4-year-old boy and son of Gregory Grant, was walking around and playing in the family’s backyard when he spotted a large black bear. Naturally, the young child became spooked by the wild animal, most likely being the first time that he’s ever seen one.
When you spot a bear in the wild, you are supposed to make yourself appear larger and speak in a deep voice to intimidate the bear. Of course, a 4-year-old boy isn’t going to have that knowledge and expertise in his arsenal, so he did what feels natural in that situation and began to run away.
The issue with following your “fight or flight” response is that running from a bear, or any wild animal for that matter, can trigger its “chasing instinct.” When Gavin started running away from the scary black bear, the bear came chasing after him.
Luckily, the family’s 8-year-old golden retriever named Jake was watching over the young child and sprang into action once the bear locked in on the kid. Surveillance video caught the golden retriever valiantly going on the defensive and chasing the black bear away from the boy and out of the backyard.
Who knows if the bear would have actually bothered the young kid, but Jake the dog wasn’t going to leave anything up to chance. The golden retriever was instead a “golden chaser,” and didn’t let up on the bear until it was far away from the backyard and Gavin.
Jake the dog eventually came back to the home and was unharmed, as was the 4-year-old. Gregory Grant, the owner of the dog and the father of Gavin, was incredibly grateful for his “good boy” that saved the day.
Gregory spoke to News 8 in Connecticut and confirmed that Jake the golden retriever was rewarded for potentially saving Grant with his heroic effort, saying:
“He got quite a few treats, he got ice cream, he got a bath that night.
He got the whole nine yards. He helped us out that day for sure.”
You can take a look at the unbelievable security camera footage below:
