A 5-year-old golden retriever named Koda made a big difference by performing a cute deed.
Koda is giving back to her community as the community engagement and therapy K9 for the Georgetown Fire Department. She frequently lends a paw as a therapy dog when she is not helping her dad, Jonathan Gilliam, teach kids and adults about fire safety.
While on the job, Koda’s assignments are typically low-stress. However, the professional girl recently encountered a crisis when her dad became locked out of the fire station and she was the only one available to assist.
Gilliam, the department’s deputy fire marshal said, “At the time, I thought it was just my keycard that wasn’t working.”
After an event, Gilliam had just finished tidying up when the door to the public safety building closed behind him. He attempted to open the door with his keycard, but it was inoperable.
“My initial thought was, ‘How am I going to get back in?” Gilliam uttered.
To ask for assistance, he hastily dialed the building’s internal 911 dispatch facility.
Gilliam looked inside the door while he waited for assistance. He looked Koda in the eye and then thought of a strategy.
“I thought to myself, ‘I wonder if Koda could open it,’” Gilliam said.
Koda was excited when Gilliam knocked on the glass door. The pleased dog answered by leaping up onto the door and pressing the bar to unlock it as if she had always done it.
“That was the first time she’d opened a door or even attempted,” according to Gilliam.
You can see Koda unlock the door here:
Gilliam discovered the building’s keyless entry system was broken once inside. He would have been locked out if someone from the 911 dispatch crew had gone to assist him.
Gilliam and the rest of the Georgetown Fire Department personnel on duty were saved from a night of turmoil by Koda’s modest but powerful jump. Koda responded to her dad’s gratitude with an enthusiastic tail wag in celebration though she had no means of recognizing the significance of her gestures.
Since that evening, Koda has returned to routine tasks, but her fellow firemen have not stopped praising her for assisting her father while he was in need.
Source: The Dodo
