‘Our dog saved my wife's life on her birthday today.’: Sweet Saint Bernard throws himself between mom and balloon nemesis in attempt to spare her from the inflatable danger

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Oct 2, 2026 10:45 AM EDT

It is no big secret that dogs love protecting their family. By doing so they get to use their central special skills of attacking, intimidating and in general keeping unwanted things away from the precious people around them. It truly is their moment to shine. But sadly not all threats are perceived the same and in some cases canines have laid on their backs for cuddles while robbers stole all of their pawrents stuff, or as in the case of his heartwarming and hilarious story the doggo decided that something was incredibly dangerous when it simply wasn't.

Now, we are not saying that this doggo is dumb, after all balloons are not of the natural world and trying to explain to a pupper that a balloon is no threat to anything or anyone is a tough sell. After all, there are those balloons that fly, those that fall and those that burst. They are an ever changing bunch making them deeply distrustful in the eyes of doggos. And rightfully so when you see things from that pawspective. So you can imagine just how hard this pupper had to work to keep his pawrent from getting near the terror that had been placed on her kitchen table in honor of her birthday.

And while you might argue that the pup was just being annoying, we opt to see this as a gift in itself. A heartwarming reminder of the lengths that this family pup will go to just to make sure that its community is safe and sound. We would all be so lucky to have a pupper looking out for us like this. 
 

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    "It took her a couple of tries to talk him down and assure him that she could handle the evil balloon without his assistance."
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    Saint Bernard lying on back funny face balloons background.

    Model portrayal.


     

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    Today is my wife's birthday. While she was at work, a delivery came. Her parents sent her flowers and a Happy
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    Cheezburger Image 10667452160
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    Birthday balloon via some floral service. I was home, so I put them on the dining room table for her to see when she got home.
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    That's all very well and good, but here's the thing. We have a Saint Bernard who is a fierce protector of the home, and especially protective of her. He runs off
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    wildlife, fears neither beast nor man, and puts himself in between Mom and harm's way whenever there is a threat. AND he just so happens to have
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    one fear in this world: Balloons. When she got home and went over to see what had arrived, the dog bolted over
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  • Oh dang it, why is it that the greatest, bravest and most courageous of heroes always have to have an achilles heal? That there is one thing in this world that they simply cannot stand up against and yet they are forced to? Well, one might argue that it shows those heroes to be mere mortals facing the same struggles as the rest of us. But one has also got to ask what good does that do when they are faced with that one thing? That is so long as they are unable to overcome their fear. 
     

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    and put himself between her and the balloon. He insisted that she stay away from it. It is DANGEROUS! It took her a couple of
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    STATE Of
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    tries to talk him down and assure him that she could handle the evil balloon without his assistance. He wasn't thrilled with this
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    risky behavior, but he did let her pass. Kept an eye on her though, just in case. You never know what those things are going to try. Don't trust them.
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  • What a good boy. Sure, he might not have been able to stop his momma from running towards the danger that he was so fear stricken by, but at least he did his best and stayed vigilant in case anything happened. After all, those balloons are incredibly unpredictable. One minute they are floating around seemingly doing no harm and the next *bang* and they’ve gone all haywire. It just goes to show how loyal this darling doggo is to his family and how seriously he takes he role as the family pawtector. 
     

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    sojayn Can he have some cake for his bravery please?!
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    ElysianBlight Awww! My baby similarly tried to save me from the food processor today. He is a 7m/o pyr mix but actually a huge wimp.. he talks a big game at the mailman walking on the other side of the street, but the first time a service worker actually came into the fenced yard he yelped and bolted under the porch to hide.
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    dogsshouldrundaworld What a good boy! My dad once tried to surprise my mom on her birthday with balloons and breakfast. Their dog was sleeping with her in bed and when my dad opened the door, balloons first, the dog went absolutely ballistic. Not the romantic wake-up he was hoping to achieve for my mom on her birthday!
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    Haploid-life Your dog is braver than mine. My girl also thinks that balloons are wildly dangerous, but I think if we brought one in the house she'd run upstairs before she tries to protect me!
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saint bernard dogs life sweet dog birthday danger Balloons wife reddit story saved save attempt dog story mom today throw
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