Tucker

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO

Tucker is a six-year-old Shepherd and Rottweiler mix from the Niagara-on-the-Lake region in Ontario. Rachel Spiewak adopted Tucker as a Christmas present for her two boys. When Rachel met Jason Chafe, Tucker helped unite the blended family, bringing together Rachel’s two older boys from a previous marriage, Jason’s young son, and a toddler that they share together.

On the evening of September 16th, 2018, Rachel and Jason were at home with their two youngest sons, while Rachel’s two eldest sons were staying at their father’s. As it was getting late, Rachel, Jason, Tucker and their youngest son retreated to the master bedroom for the night. A couple hours later, Rachel was awoken by Tucker who was displaying unusual behaviour – barking, pacing, whining, and pawing at the bed in an effort to wake his owners. After trying to ignore the dog, Rachel and Jason finally realized something was actually wrong, and Jason got out of bed to see what was going on.

When he opened the door, the whole room filled with light and all they could see was a bright orange wall of fire. The fire alarms had not gone off because there was no smoke in the house, it had all bellowed directly outside.

The couple knew they had to get out of the house right away, so Jason went to get one son who was sleeping in his own bedroom, Rachel grabbed their other son who was staying in their room, and they planned to all meet outside with Tucker.

Once outside, the family watched in horror as their entire house was engulfed in flames. By the time the fire trucks, ambulance and police arrived, the damage was too great to save the home so the local firefighters concentrated on controlling the fire, preventing it from spreading to neighbouring homes.

That night, the family lost everything as the fire destroyed their home. Despite losing valuable items, mementos, and irreplaceable family memories, they all got out alive that night, thanks to Tucker’s life-saving instincts and his keen ability to communicate with his owners.