All's well that ends well. Humans and Rottweilers all came through.

My wife has had some health issues lately. She has had Alzheimer's for some 5 years now and things will likely get worse. Once in a while everything turns out better than usual. Like what happened at 3 AM two weeks ago. Jackie woke up a few hours after going to bed and was in a state of high anxiety about needing to get dressed and go some place. The alarm on her door woke me and after some strenuous attempts to convince her to go back to bed she worked herself into a fit and began having difficulty breathing. Then she grasped her chest and complained of pain. I gave her two aspirin and a prescription drug to calm her down but after some twenty minutes of no relief, I called 911 and asked for an ambulance.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and three police officers were there. They said they always arrive before the EMS does so I let them in. I took them to my wife's bedroom and they saw how agitated she was. Then the doorbell rang and two EMS guys came in. The hallway outside the bedrooms was getting crowded. I had put Ruff in my room and closed the door. Axl had left his mom's room as soon as the commotion started and he went into the living room and laid on the couch. The next thing I knew the last police officer in line outside the bedroom announced that "There's a big baby out here." Axl had come out of the living room and walked up behind the cop and put his cold wet nose on his hand. Then Ruff managed to open the door and came out to join the party. As soon as Ruff got into the hallway one of the cops asked me to get the dogs out of there and I put them both down in the basement. Little Sassy remained on her bed in the living room and I'm so glad she didn't let out one of her trademark WOO WOO greetings. During the entire time neither Ruff nor Axl ever growled or barked or made any sound at all.

The EMS guys took my wife to the Emergency Room and they kept her for about 12 hours. The doctors congratulated me for the foresight of giving her two aspirin. All the tests turned out normal and she did not have any signs of a heart attack. I brought Jackie home about 3 PM and everything went back to normal. The two boys were very glad to see her. 

As if to make a counterpoint to this episode, some 4 or 5 weeks earlier Jackie had found an unlocked door and went for a walk by herself one afternoon. I have inside keyed deadbolts on the outside doors just to keep her from wandering off but on that day a friend was over for a visit and I forgot to re-lock the front door when she left. Oddly enough my wife has had both knee joints replaced and does not like long walks but I searched up and down the street and could not find her. I called 911 and explained the situation and they sent over a County police car. The officer called in the report and asked for help. Then he asked me to take him inside the house so he could recheck every room. On the way to the front door I told him we had three Rottweilers inside. Well, he got as far as the vestibule and was surrounded by Ruff, Axl and Sassy and each one was curious and began quietly sniffing him. And no one growled or barked. The police officer decided, anyway, that  he didn't have to go through the house and check the rooms after all. A few minutes later another cop found Jackie walking down the next street about a half a mile away and brought her home. I never imagined how she could have gotten so far away.

All's well that ends well.