An intrepid little Miniature Schnauzer was so impatient waiting for her owner to recover from surgery that she walked 20 blocks and smuggled herself into the hospital to visit - by herself.
Nancy Franck, 64, is undergoing treatment for cancer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and initially assumed her daughter, Sarah Wood, had brought Sissy the dog with her.
She said: "I asked 'Did you sneak this dog in?' Sarah said, 'No, [Sissy] snuck herself in.'"
Nancy Franck
"Set the door off — she got in by herself, too. So, she was on a mission."
Needless to say Franck was overjoyed to have Sissy visit but it was a different story for her husband, Dale, 66, who thought he had lost their pet when he let her and another dog into the garden.
He said: "I kept checking everywhere, calling out, 'Sissy! Sissy! I was pulling my hair out."
"She was on a mission that night to see her mom but she couldn't find the right elevator to take."
Luckily Sissy was found by security and was allowed to go visit Nancy for a few minutes.
"Is this the way to the cancer ward?"
How Sissy managed to navigate all the way there by herself is still a bit of a mystery.
Dale said: "The only thing I could think of was that Sissy used to ride with me to pick up my wife from work next door to the hospital. But we've never walked that route before."
"She has a close relationship with Sissy. Sissy's 11 now, and we bought her when she was just about 8 weeks old.
"She came up to me, scratched my leg and fell asleep on my shoulder. I'd say we didn't pick her, she picked us."