Scent of a Woman : 3 Canny Canines Trail Their Owner to the Hospital Door

It’s an oft-told tale, but one that still sets tongues wagging. Or tails.

Three lonely dogs escaped from their home in West Hills on Thursday night, and, guided by some power that nobody can explain, trotted about two miles to the Humana-West Hills Regional Medical Center--apparently searching for their owner.

The dogs found Ellen Ottenberg, but for obvious reasons were not allowed up to Room 303 where she was resting with her baby daughter, born Tuesday. Besides, it was after visiting hours.

“My husband called earlier to tell me the dogs had gotten out,” Ottenberg said. “I don’t know why, but after we hung up, I pulled the window blind, and I swear I saw the shadows of three dogs run by.”

Her eyes weren’t playing tricks: Trouper, Shandy and Schon missed Mom. The three Doberman pinschers left home about 8 p.m., when Ellen’s husband, Ed, was carrying flowers in through the front door. They padded silently from the house near Valley Circle Boulevard and Highlander Road all the way to the hospital near Woodlake Avenue on Medical Center Drive.

The cunning canines then presented themselves to a bewildered night security guard at the emergency room entrance.

Meanwhile, Ed Ottenberg was driving around, frantically searching. The last thing he wanted to tell his wife was that the dogs were lost. After about two hours, he called the police, who connected him to animal regulatory officials.

“Three Dobermans?” an animal regulatory official asked. “Sure, we got three Dobermans. They’re in the emergency room at West Hills.”

“It blew me away,” Ed Ottenberg said later. “The dogs are never out. When we walk them, we don’t go anywhere near the hospital. How they trekked all the way to the hospital, I have no idea.”

Said Ellen Ottenberg: “I was pretty shocked. I can’t believe they ended up under my window. They’re friendly, but I had no idea they’d come find me.”

Mother, daughter and Dobermans were all doing well at home Friday.