A Guide Dog Detects a Serious Health Condition In His Owner Without Training: ‘I Feel Like He's An Angel Wrapped In Fur’
Neha Vashist | Mar 25, 2026, 22:04 IST
A Guide Dog Detected a Serious Health Condition In His Owner Without Training_ ‘I Feel Like He's An
They say animals have a sixth sense. They can sense a health concern even before a proper diagnosis. An example of the same was seen in Florida, where a visually impaired man’s guide dog not only changed but also saved his life from a serious health condition.
It all began after Luis Perez found a perfect companion match in Jerry, a guide dog via Dogs Inc. He is a black Labrador Retriever trained as a guide dog for people with visual impairments. Luis was earlier getting help from his family to get around and do stuff, he told People. However, as his kids grew, life caught up. He said, "Fast-forward 18 years, and my oldest daughter goes to the military, and my other one is about to graduate high school. So now I have nobody to help me at home. I'm alone, my wife works. I started falling."
This is when Jerry came into his life and changed everything. Speaking about him, Perez said, "He helps me out, man, tremendously. Not only is he my guide dog, but he also helps me emotionally. I suffer from anxiety and depression because of my eyesight loss. When you hear stuff that you can't see, that's what makes me anxious. Jerry takes my anxiety away because I feel like he's my eyes, so he's looking around for me."
Thereafter, he shared how Jerry’s repeated action helped Perez detect a major health concern. He said, "I was sitting in my recliner, and I had a really bad pain in my left leg. When I went to get up, I almost couldn't walk. Well, Jerry got up, put his chin on my leg, and pressed down."
This pressing motion is something Jerry used to do to calm Perez in a state of anxiety. However, it used to be a brief action. This time, "he kept doing it, and he wouldn't let me stand up," said Perez.
Luis added, "He's never done this before. He doesn't want me to stand up. He doesn't want to let me walk."
After a couple of days, Perez, his wife, and Jerry went to the hospital. There, they learned that Perez had deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which, if left untreated, can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, which can lead to life-threatening consequences.
"You can die from that," Perez mentioned, recalling the words of a nurse. "If it keeps going, it'll go to your lungs and then go to your heart," he added.
They didn’t waste time and got the DVT treated. It took him 4 days to get the treatment, and Jerry stayed by his side. Amid all this, what shocked all was that Jerry was never trained for this. Therefore, as Luis went on to speak about his beloved pet, he said, "I feel like he's an angel wrapped in fur. If it weren't for his concern, I wouldn't have gone to the hospital and gotten checked out. He saved me."
Celebrate the bond with your pets, explore Health & Nutrition, discover Breeds, master Training Tips, Behavior Decoder, and set out on exciting Travel Tails with Times Pets!
It all began after Luis Perez found a perfect companion match in Jerry, a guide dog via Dogs Inc. He is a black Labrador Retriever trained as a guide dog for people with visual impairments. Luis was earlier getting help from his family to get around and do stuff, he told People. However, as his kids grew, life caught up. He said, "Fast-forward 18 years, and my oldest daughter goes to the military, and my other one is about to graduate high school. So now I have nobody to help me at home. I'm alone, my wife works. I started falling."
This is when Jerry came into his life and changed everything. Speaking about him, Perez said, "He helps me out, man, tremendously. Not only is he my guide dog, but he also helps me emotionally. I suffer from anxiety and depression because of my eyesight loss. When you hear stuff that you can't see, that's what makes me anxious. Jerry takes my anxiety away because I feel like he's my eyes, so he's looking around for me."
Thereafter, he shared how Jerry’s repeated action helped Perez detect a major health concern. He said, "I was sitting in my recliner, and I had a really bad pain in my left leg. When I went to get up, I almost couldn't walk. Well, Jerry got up, put his chin on my leg, and pressed down."
This pressing motion is something Jerry used to do to calm Perez in a state of anxiety. However, it used to be a brief action. This time, "he kept doing it, and he wouldn't let me stand up," said Perez.
Luis added, "He's never done this before. He doesn't want me to stand up. He doesn't want to let me walk."
After a couple of days, Perez, his wife, and Jerry went to the hospital. There, they learned that Perez had deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which, if left untreated, can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, which can lead to life-threatening consequences.
"You can die from that," Perez mentioned, recalling the words of a nurse. "If it keeps going, it'll go to your lungs and then go to your heart," he added.
They didn’t waste time and got the DVT treated. It took him 4 days to get the treatment, and Jerry stayed by his side. Amid all this, what shocked all was that Jerry was never trained for this. Therefore, as Luis went on to speak about his beloved pet, he said, "I feel like he's an angel wrapped in fur. If it weren't for his concern, I wouldn't have gone to the hospital and gotten checked out. He saved me."
Celebrate the bond with your pets, explore Health & Nutrition, discover Breeds, master Training Tips, Behavior Decoder, and set out on exciting Travel Tails with Times Pets!