Baz the foster dog went from death row to hero after helping save the life of his foster nanna

A Queensland dog has been credited with helping save the life of his foster nanna just weeks after he was allegedly scheduled to be euthanised.

A Gold Coast dog has been hailed a hero after helping save the life of his foster nanna just weeks after he was allegedly scheduled to be euthanised.

Lauren Lacey, 40, of Tallai on the Gold Coast, said her husband Brian heard their foster dog, Baz make an unusual and distressed sound about 7.15am on July 15.

He rushed to the Australian Kelpie New Zealand Huntaway cross and discovered his mother-in-law, Julie Dignum, 64, unresponsive on the ground in the garage near the doorway to their house.

“My husband heard the dog make a funny noise, it’s hard to describe,” Mrs Lacey said.

“It was like a growling and howling noise, sort of like he was distressed.

“It’s what alerted us to her.”

Lauren Lacey, 40, of Tallai showing what a sweet dog Bazza was during the first few days of fostering him through the D.A.R.E. rescue group. Baz has been credited with helping save his foster nanna, Julie Dignum 's life after she had a cardiac arrest about a week later. Picture: DARE/Facebook

The naturopath rushed out to her husband’s panicked yelling and instantly put her first-aid training into action by starting Cardiopulmonary resuscitation while Mr Lacey, 42, rang Triple-0.

“I saw she was on her side and she was going blue,” she said.

“I just knew it was a heart attack.”

The women had just been chatting normally about five minutes earlier when Mrs Dignum pulled into their driveway.

Mrs Lacey had gone inside while her mum had opted to first get some items out of her car.

She said the Triple-0 operator helped talk her through the compressions until an ambulance, that was fortunately nearby, arrived.

“The dog was there … licking her face the whole time, he was right by her side,” she said.

Julie Dignum, 65, of Burleigh Waters, with one of her grandchildren, Alek Lacey, 8, of Tallai on the Gold Coast. Picture: Lacey family

Paramedics shocked Mrs Dignum three times with a defibrillator before her pulse finally returned.

By then, Mrs Lacey said, her mother had been clinically dead for about 20 minutes.

Thanks to Baz alerting them and their quick actions with CPR and seeking emergency assistance, she lived to turn 65 on her birthday a week later, while in the Gold Coast University Hospital in Southport.

The Lacey family, including their sons Kai, 20, and Alek, 8, credit Baz, who turns two on Tuesday, alerting them to his foster grandmother’s collapse as the key to saving her life.

“If the dog hadn’t of alerted my husband and my husband hadn’t gone out there and found her, I might not have been coping so well right now,” Mrs Lacey said.

Bazza aka Baz the Australian kelpie New Zealand Huntaway cross has been hailed a hero after helping save the life of his foster nanna, Julie Dignum, just weeks after he was allegedly scheduled to be euthanised. Picture: DARE/Facebook

Mrs Dignum usually stopped by the Lacey’s once a fortnight to help clean their large home, with family members often doing their own thing in different parts of the house or out on the 10 acre property.

If it were not for Baz, Mrs Lacey said they may not have realised her mum was missing for some time, losing out on those crucial lifesaving minutes.

“Our house is massive, so I might have though she was in the house somewhere,” she said.

“If Baz wasn’t there to alert us she had collapsed on the ground, it could have been a different end. He saved her life.”

The Lacey family had only started fostering Baz, through the Gold Coast-based Domestic Animal Rescue and Education (D.A.R.E) rescue group, on July 4.

Alek Lacey, 8, with Baz the Huntaway Kelpie cross, 2, who is credited with helping save Alek's grandmother's life. He was on death row with a different rescue group only weeks earlier. Picture: Lacey family

Julie Dignum, 65, with Rasta Dignum, 3, Pippi Dignum, 6, and Dusty Dignum, 8, visiting their grandmother in hospital after Baz the foster dog and his now-new owners was credited with helping save her life. Picture: Supplied

DARE Founder, Mika Dargie, 31, said they had taken ‘Bazza’ into their care in June after she said another rescue organisation claimed he had allegedly failed their behavioural assessment because he was “a fence jumper” and had scheduled him to be euthanised if no one came forward to take him.

“He had a death date … I don’t know how long (that group) had him for, but their staff advocated for him,” she said.

“They reached out to another rescue group but that group had no carers available, so they reached out to someone else who also couldn’t take him, and that rescue group then reached out to us.”

For the first couple of weeks, no one responded to DARE’s repeated calls for a foster carer.

Finally, Miss Dargie contacted the Lacey’s who agreed to take him.

Bazza aka Baz the kelpie huntaway cross from DARE has been credited with helping save Julie Dignum life when she had a cardiac arrest on July 15. Picture: DARE/Facebook

Mrs Lacey said Baz had not tried to jump their fence, escape from their yard, or even run off to explore their property on his own.

“He’s our shadow and just wants to be where we are. He’s pretty chilled for his breed,” she said.

A few days after Baz helped save his Nanna’s life, the Lacey family officially adopted him.

“After that, how can we let him go?,” Mrs Lacey said.

Mrs Dignum, of Burleigh Heads, said she has no memory of the day but was recovering well.

“I was very lucky,” she said.

“Just with the timing of Lauren and Brian being there and so many things. Their house is huge and I don’t always see Brian when I go to the house in the mornings.

Julie Dignum, 65, with grandson Kai Lacey, 20, her husband Dan Dignum, 67, and their daughter, Lauren Lacey, 40. Picture: Supplied

“He has a garden business he operates from shed in back yard. He could have been down in the shed and it would have been too late.

“I was out for a few days and when I woke up in hospital, Danny, my husband, said I had a cardiac arrest, but I couldn’t grasp that then.”

Mrs Dignum became emotional as she thought about the rescue dog, that was nearly killed, alerting her family.

“They’re very lucky to have him and he’s lucky to have a second chance,” she said.

“It’s awesome. It’s just beautiful that animals have that intuition. I’ve never experienced that before with an animal.

“That makes him more special. That’s making me a bit teary.”

Rachel McCormack saw Baz’s heroic story on DARE’s Facebook page and thought she was looking at her own dog, Nola, except, she was a girl and was lying at her feet. A microchip check confirmed Nola (left) and Baz (right) were siblings. Picture: Lacey family

In a happy twist, after Miss Dargie shared Baz’s story on DARE’s Facebook page, Rachel McCormack spotted Baz in a photo and contacted them.

“She said ‘(Baz) is identical to my dog but mine’s a girl and she’s sitting at my feet’,” Miss Dargie said.

Miss McCormack, 27, of Burleigh Waters, said she adopted Huntaway Kelpie cross at six months old from the Southeast K9 Rescue (SEQ K9 Rescue) group.

Miss Dargie said the microchips of Nola and Baz confirmed they were littermates.

Baz met his sister, Nola, on August 7.

Miss Dargie said many people still believed the myth that dogs sent to a pound were there because they were bad, but Baz’s story highlighted that rescue dogs were often surrendered through no fault of their own.