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By Catherine Kavanaugh for Daily Tribune

ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN — Five years ago, Don Callahan, 72, rescued a homeless dog at an adoption fair at the Detroit Zoo.

Last month, the mixed-breed Airedale named Wyatt Earp returned the favor.

“He’s my hero,” Callahan said. “He saved my life.”

The retired Southfield police officer collapsed Jan. 23 during one of his twice-daily walks with the 70-pound dog. It was cold and dark by Rotary Park on 13 Mile Road. The unconscious man in a gray coat and jeans wasn’t visible to drivers and no other pedestrians were in the area.

Ever faithful, Wyatt stayed by Callahan’s side. He barked incessantly. Finally, someone called police about a nuisance dog. A patrol officer responded, saw the man lying on the sidewalk, and radioed for an ambulance.

Two minutes later, at 8:35 p.m., Royal Oak firefighters arrived and determined Callahan, who is diabetic, needed a shot of glucose. They took him to Beaumont Hospital, where he woke up a day later in the intensive care unit.

“All I remember is that Wyatt and I were on our way home,” Callahan said. “Someone told me police found me after getting a complaint about a barking dog. The first thing I thought was Wyatt didn’t take off. He’s so loyal. He stayed with me.”

Callahan said his blood sugar level was 18 — 70-120 is normal — when emergency workers found him. He didn’t have any warning he was about to slip into a coma.

“I felt nothing,” he said. “I have an implanted glucometer because I can’t tell. The sensor expired that night.”

Callahan recalls leaving home with Wyatt about 7:30 p.m. He said he has much to be grateful for that night. He said he is lucky Wyatt wasn’t sidetracked by squirrels — the only thing that makes him want to bolt — and that someone grew tired of the barking.

“I don’t know who called, but I’d like to thank that person,” Callahan said. “I hope they read the Daily Tribune so they can see what an important call it was.”

Callahan was in the hospital until Friday night. His best human friend, Joe Sundell, also of Royal Oak, brought him home.

“You’ve never seen a happier dog,” Sundell said. “Wyatt almost knocked him down jumping on his chest.”

Callahan is recuperating at home with his best four-legged friend never too far away. Wyatt sits beside his recliner in the living room and sleeps at the foot of his bed with his chin on the mattress.

“I go outside and he doesn’t need a leash,” Callahan said. “His only temptation is going after squirrels, but I have him trained. If I see him get alert, I say, ‘No Wyatt’ and he stays. But if I don’t say it, I’ve got to hang on.”

A former police dog handler, Callahan said Wyatt’s puppy dog eyes caught his attention at a busy pet adoption fair.

“He looked out of a cage with a face that seemed to say, ‘Take me. I want to go home with you.’ ”

Callahan showed him a nearby kitten to see how the dog named after a frontier lawman would react.

“He just licked it,” Callahan recalled. “I said, ‘He’ll be all right’ and I took him home.”

Callahan is trying to take it easy. In addition to diabetes, he has 23 stents for cardiac artery disease. Still, he said he can’t forgo Wyatt’s daily walks. They used to go 2-4 miles twice a day, but they cut back to a mile.

“Large dogs need a lot of exercise,” Callahan said. “They tell me to slow down, but you’ve got to do something.”

It’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks.