By Heather Graves
Correspondent

SEYMOUR – Man adopts dog, man meets woman, woman names dog, man and woman fall in love and get married.

Sounds like the plot of a romantic comedy, right? But it doesn’t end there. Fast forward two years.

That dog who brought local couple Danni and Rob Plamann together would turn out to be much more than a matchmaker – but also a hero.

On June 10, nurse Danni Plamann returned to their Seymour home after working a long night shift at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay.

It was 2 a.m., her husband was working out of town and Plamann was getting ready to take a nap – something she regularly did when working this shift.

Callie, the couple’s now 3-year-old yellow lab, usually took part in Plamann’s nap, but for some reason on this particular night Callie refused to leave the living room.

“She just sat there, she would not leave the living room,” Plamann said. “I had to physically pull her into the bedroom.”

Each time Plamann would bring the pup into the bedroom, Callie would turn around and head right back to the living room.

Finally after multiple attempts, Plamann got Callie into the room and closed the bedroom door behind her – something she said she never does, and went to sleep.

About an hour and a half later, Plamann said Callie became very restless and began jumping on her.

Callie sensed something her owner couldn’t.

“I thought she was jumping on me telling me she wanted to go outside, so I got up and opened up the window to let her look outside and laid back down,” Plamann said. “I noticed that there was a little smoke in the room and figured the neighbors were burning and the wind was bringing in the smoke.”

So Plamann laid back down, put the comforter over her head and turned over – but Callie wasn’t giving up.

“She continued to jump on me, she was growling at me and finally got under my covers and bit my ear – she has never bit anyone, ever,” Plamann said. “I was like fine, I’ll get up.”

What happened next, Plamann will never forget.

She got out of bed, put on her shoes and opened her bedroom door – it was then that she realized that her entire house was on fire.

Plamann sprung into action. She took Callie and tossed her out the window, following shortly after.
“Honestly, if I would have rolled over one more time, I wouldn’t have made it,” Plamann said. “Because by the time I got out the window and turned around the whole house was burning.”

Plamann said by the time firefighters arrived on scene, the house was completely destroyed.

While the exact cause of the fire was undetermined, officials believe it started in the living room area – the room Callie didn’t want to leave earlier that morning.

Callie was checked out by the vet for smoke inhalation, but has fully recovered and is back to her happy, active self.

The hole in the ground where their home used to stand is a reminder for Plamann of just how bad things could’ve been.

Now the focus is on rebuilding – which is set to begin before the end of the month – and Callie had a lot to do with the plans.

“We made sure to include a big picture window in the living facing the pond so Callie can once again sit and watch the birds like she did in our old home,” Plamann said. “It’s the least we can do. It’s been hard for Callie. She had her own room, all her toys – not having that normalcy is hard for her.”

Right now, the couple is living in a camper on their six-acre property.

The Plamann family lost everything in a fire. But they are grateful for what they do have: each other and their hero dog.

“I owe Callie my life,” Plamann said. “When I sit and think about it – she really did save my life. I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for her.”

The couple met at bar on St. Patrick’s Day in Porterfield, Wisconsin, in 2017. Philadelphia native Danni, who worked as a traveling nurse at the time, was out celebrating before heading back to Philadelphia.

Rob was also at the bar with his family – discussing names for his new six-week-old puppy.

Overhearing the conversation, Danni suggested naming the dog Callie – and the rest was history.

Little did they know, their chance meeting would lead to all this – but one thing they can both agree on is that the pup that brought them together and saved Danni’s live will hold a special place in their hearts forever.