'It was wonderful:' Dog picks up grocery list from housebound neighbor, delivers her groceries



COLORADO -- One puppy is doing his part to help stop the coronavirus pandemic from infecting at-risk patients.

Renee Hellman has COPD, a medical condition which affects her ability to breath. This makes COVID-19 more dangerous for her because the virus can affect a person's respiratory system.

Hellman's neighbor, Karen Evelth , is now doing her part to lend a helping hand by training her dog to bring Hellman her groceries.

Karen's dog, Sundance, gets Helllman's grocery list, then after completing the trip to the store, Karen has Sundance drop off the bags at Hellman's door.

Sundance seems to love this new version of fetch, but to Hellman, this service means the world.

"He just did it. It was all of a sudden, and he was here, and that's my job, and I'm gonna do it. So it was wonderful," said Hellman.

"She could not believe it. She always runs to the window to, to see, that 'oh my God, I can't believe he did it again, and again, and again," said Evelth. "He does get his treats. He's motivated by those for sure. But he's really special to me, and I'd be lost without him because he helps me so much. So I wanted him to help other people. That's exactly what he did. Pretty proud."

"We have to have something fun in our lives, and this is definitely fun," said Hellman.

The number of coronavirus cases in the country now total more than 139,000.

Creative delivery services like this could help limit human contact and slow down the spread of the virus.