How This Hero Dog Protects His Owner's Head During Seizures

Anyone who has seen a dog in real life can attest to the beautiful, dopey, perfect creatures they are. My dog apparently spent all of last night pooping in the one carpeted room in my house, and I’m still obsessed with her. She’s sitting in her kennel right now as a self-appointed punishment. This morning, I’m guessing she heard me say, “Are you serious?” at the poop graveyard she left for me and proceed to walk, tail between her legs, to go sit herself in a timeout. She is a menace and yet a national treasure. My dog, however, is lightyears behind this dog that learned to protect his owner’s head during a seizure. Yes, a Doctor Dog, if you will. If you even for one moment thought we deserved doggos as a species, this prince of a pup is going to prove you otherwise.

Meet Colt, a Weimaraner/English Labrador mix and a service dog. In a video originally posted on YouTube, Colt can be seen demonstrating how he protects his owner’s head during a seizure, a skill his owner Janaye trained him to do. According to the video’s description, Janaye has a Traumatic Brain Injury, making it incredibly dangerous and even life-threatening for her to hit her head. Because Janaye also experiences seizures, taking extra precautions to protect her head is crucial. So, she trained Colt to literally give her a shoulder/back/body to lean on.

This video of Janaye reenacting a seizure as part of Colt’s training went viral and has been liked over half a million times on Twitter. Colt can be seen sliding his body under Janaye’s head, using his body like a dog-shaped pillow. “He is trained to do this in a certain way that keeps both him and me safe,” Janaye specifies in the video’s description, “He will not get [hurt] doing this the way he has been trained to.”

The ways service dogs help their owners is incredible. For starters, these dogs have jobs. They are employed. They are members of the workforce, and THEY ARE LITERAL DOGS. Amazing. Service dogs have been trained to do everything from detect peanuts for people with allergies to detect blood sugar fluctuations for owners with diabetes. Service dogs can also help people with mental health conditions, like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research has found evidence that bonding with dogs helps elevate levels of oxytocin, a hormone that helps balance people with PTSD. Recently, a bride who experiences panic attacks walked down the aisle with her service dog to help assuage her anxiety. I repeat, dogs are perfect.

Janaye says Colt takes his job very seriously. “He always looks back to make sure I am safe and keeps trying [until] I am,” she writes on YouTube, “I am so blessed to have him. He has saved my life in many ways.” To see more of Janaye and Colt’s training and adventures, follow them on YouTube or Instagram. To see more evidence of dogs being so, so great, just go, like, look at a dog, I guess?