Extreme K9s 101!

Today's extreme K9 is Selvakumar!

"Sangeeta, a mother of three boys, looks down on her eldest son, Dinakaran, seated, and the dog that saved his life, Selvakumar.

"Run away!" the husband screamed from a rooftop after he spotted the colossal waves.

His wife Sangeeta grabbed her two youngest sons and hoped that the third and oldest - 7-year-old Dinakaran - would outrun the tsunami churning toward her home.

But Dinakaran didn't follow. He headed for the safest place he knew, the small family hut just 40 metres from the seashore.

Sangeeta thought she would never see him again. But he was saved by the family dog.

While water lapped at Sangeeta's heels as she rushed up a hill, the scruffy dog named Selvakumar ducked into the hut after Dinakaran.

Nipping and nudging, he did everything in his canine power to get the boy up the hill.

Sangeeta, who like many south Indians only uses one name, had no idea of the drama unfolding below.

Once she had crossed the main road to safety she collapsed into tears, screaming over the loss of her eldest son.

"I had heard from others that the wall of my house had collapsed, I felt sure that my child had died," said the 24-year-old mother.

Selvakumar looks pretty much like every other dog in the village. He hardly ever barks and lets the three boys climb all over him and pull his tail without protest. At night, he joins the rest of the family and sleeps among them, no matter how may times they throw him out.

Most days, the dog escorts Dinakaran to and from school, spending the rest of the day playing with the other two boys, or begging for food.

Sangeeta's brother-in-law gave her the puppy, following the birth of her second son. When the brother-in-law died in an accident two years ago, they changed the dog's name to his.

Sangeeta's family had always lived along the coast, just north of Pondicherry, a former French colony.

The morning of December 26 began like most others, with sunny skies and a cool breeze.

Sangeeta's husband, R Ramakrishnan, had just returned from his early morning fishing with a boat full of fish.

From their home, the view of the ocean was obstructed by a two-storey community centre. So when they heard a strange noise coming from the sea, Sangeeta's husband went to investigate.

When Ramakrishnan saw the waves, he ran to the roof of the centre and shouted down to Sangeeta to flee. That's when she made her agonising choice.

"He is somewhat older than the other two. I knew he would be able to run, so I grabbed the other two," Sangeeta explained.

Dinakaran credits the dog with saving his life.

"That dog grabbed me by the collar of my shirt," the boy said. "He dragged me out."

Sangeeta said she believes some special spirit, perhaps her brother-in-law's, resides in the dog."

Article and pic from: http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/05_Cosmic/050104.tsun.dog.boy.html