 The film opens with an inter @-@ title that reads " Poor little rich girl has no one to play with " and cuts to Baby Helen with her doll , looking out the window . A group of children play Ring a Ring o ' Roses in the yard . Next , Baby Helen goes to tea party set up on the yard and holds her doll , all by herself , with a lonely expression . The neighbor 's dog , Shep comes out of his dog house and barks , and Baby Helen rises with a joyful expression . She takes a piece of a muffin and tosses it through the boxwood hedge separating the two yards . Shep eats the muffin and Helen invites him to her tea party . Shep runs along the hedge and passes through to join her . Helen instructs Shep with her finger and Shep barks in understanding , Helen takes her seat and shares a muffin with Shep . An inter @-@ title announces that a week later , Helen is out on an errand . Helen passes through the hedge and skips down the sidewalk and Shep barks at her . As Helen crosses the street , she is struck by a passing automobile and Shep races to the rescue . He tugs at her dress at the waist and finding that he is unable to move her , runs to Helen 's home and jumps against the screen door , barking repeatedly . As Helen 's parents are summoned , Shep leads them to Helen , where a passerby has scooped up Helen from the middle of the street . All three depart and the scene changes to a dimly lit room with Helen laid on a bed , seemingly dead . Her parents watch over her , with sad faces as a doctor inspects her and folds her arms across her chest . Beyond saving , her parents bury their heads in the pillow next to Helen as the doctor pens a note . Then Shep is shown resting against the side of the door in a feeble and sorrowful looking position . 
