Bingo’s “Lick It List”
Cole is asking for doggie treats for his beloved dog Bingo’s “Lick it List” the dog equivalent of a person’s Bucket List.
Eleven year old Cole Hein has an undiagnosed disorder which makes him suddenly stop breathing when he is asleep or even when he is awake. Often times Cole would need someone to give him CPR to revive him. When the Cambridge, Ontario, Canada based National Dogs Service heard about Cole’s medical condition the organization’s co-founder trained her own Jack Russell terrior, Bingo, to recognize the distinct gagging sound Cole would make when he stopped breathing and to bark to alert his parents. So it was that Bingo went to live with the Hein family who live in Shilo, Manitoba, Canada in 2005 when Cole was just four years old.
In the past seven years that Bingo has lived with the Hein family he has been responsible for saving Cole’s life on numerous occasions. Bingo was even inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame in 2010 for his service to Cole. Now that Cole is older he is able to fight the disorder on his own while Bingo, who is now 14 years old, was unfortunately diagnosed with his own medical condition, Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome. His veterinarian told the Hein family that Bingo does not have long to live. To honor the dog that saved his life Cole decided he wanted to make a “Lick it List”, the equivalent of a Bucket List, for Bingo.
“He told me he is making a lick it list so I said ‘oh, a dog’s version of a bucket list’ and he said he didn’t know what that was,” said Mandi Hein, Cole’s mom. “I’ve made a list for her final days on Earth. I want to take her on one last public outing to Ruckers. I want to walk her around the block twice. And I want to get her treats from around the world.” said Cole. The public outing to Ruckers and the walk around the block were easy enough to accomplish, but to get treats from all around the world Mandi and Cole set up a Facebook page to encourage people to send dog treats for his hearing/medical/service/therapy dog.
The Bingo Hein Facebook page now has almost 3,000 members, with people writing in from Egypt, Singapore, New Zealand the U.K., Finland, U.A.E. and Australia. On a recent status update on the Bingo Hein Facebook page Mandi asked Cole if there were three people he would like to get a treat from to give to Bingo who would they be. Cole replied he would like one from the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of the USA and the Queen of England, but if the Queen is too busy any one in the royal family would be good.
If you would like to send a treat to Bingo you can mail it to:
Cole Hein/Bingo Hein
PO Box 413
Shilo, Manitoba
Canada
R0K 2A0
or visit the Bingo Hein Facebook page
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