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A two-month-old puppy has saved the life of its 85-year-old master who was losing consciousness on a mountainside in sub-zero weather.
The owner, surnamed Lee, left his home in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, at around 4 p.m. on Thursday. The puppy, named Baekgu meaning white dog, followed him on its first outing, according to the police.
As the elderly man with dementia didn’t return home as the sun set, Lee’s wife informed her son who then called the police.
After searching for two hours, police and Lee’s family found him on a mountain about 300 meters away from his home at 9:20 p.m. Lee, wearing only a shirt, pants and vest in the cold temperature, was about to lose consciousness and was suffering from hypothermia.
When found, Baekgu was lying on the old man’s stomach, trying to keep him warm, the family and police said. Lee was transferred to hospital and discharged the next day.
“Lee said he didn’t remember how he got up the mountain. He said he was lying on the ground and was going to sleep but the dog kept biting him, licking his face and running up and down his belly, preventing him from falling asleep,” a police officer at Gangnueng Police Agency said.
“A cold spell warning was issued in Gangneung that day. Without the puppy, Lee might not have survived,” he said.
Lee’s son said before that day Baekgu had never gone that far from the house but followed the elderly man who had been feeding him, adding they would keep the puppy with them forever.
Bloggers are calling it a modern version of “The Dog in Osu” — a folktale about a dog from Osu, North Jeolla Province, that saves its master, after he fell into a drunken sleep in a field that catches fire, by putting out the flames by rolling over them having wet its fur in a nearby stream.
