Pet Owners Credit Boston Terrier with Saving 9-Month-Old Baby's Life: 'We Don't Deserve Dogs'

Kelly Dowling says Henry the Boston terrier repeatedly headbutted the door to her daughter's nursery to get her attention

Photo: Kelly Andrew

A Connecticut couple believes their 8-year-old dog recently saved their 9-month-old daughter's life.

Kelly Dowling of Glastonbury says the couple's Boston terrier named Henry captured their attention Monday night by repeatedly entering the baby's nursery by headbutting the door open.

"And every time I shooed him away, he would go back in every time my back was turned," she said alongside husband Jeff Dowling in a virtual interview with Good Morning America.

After Henry opened the nursery door several times, the Dowlings checked on their daughter and found the infant was having trouble breathing. The parents rushed their child to Connecticut Children's Medical Center, where doctors managed to clear her airway before sending her home. Kelly praised her dog's heroics Tuesday morning in a thread on Twitter.

"I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't woken her," she wrote, adding, "We don't deserve dogs."

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In the Twitter thread, Kelly explained that her daughter "had been sick" and admitted she initially felt "fed up" with her dog's door antics constantly waking her ill child. Atop one photo from Snapchat, the mother wrote, "He keeps pushing open the baby's door with his battering ram head so he can sniff at her."

Kelly Andrew

In an interview with NBC Connecticut, Kelly said Henry typically hides under the couple's bed when scolded. But this time was different. The dog continued to push the nursery door open until Kelly realized her daughter had stopped breathing.

"She wasn't clearing her airway. She started to go blue and turn rigid, and she just really couldn't get air [and] couldn't get any oxygen," she told GMA.

Kelly Andrew

In the final tweet of her thread, Kelly thanked the hospital "for being literal heroes," adding, "They go above and beyond in their care, and it shows."

As for Henry, the couple told GMA that the pup would get an additional round of Christmas gifts this year. After all, Kelly said, "He's never done anything quite so heroic before."

"[We're] definitely spoiling the dog a little bit more," said Jeff. "He was allowed to sleep in bed with me last night, and he's got a steak in his future."