A dog in Minnesota reminded everybody why canines are the absolute best.
A two-year-old boy went missing in the countryside near Richmond, and was picked up after the dog’s barking and heat signal were picked up by a search helicopter.
The Star Tribune reported the details:
An “adventurous” 2-year-old wandered from his central Minnesota home and was rescued after nightfall, thanks to a State Patrol aircraft’s heat-seeking device detecting one of two family dogs that loyally tagged along and remained with the toddler in the dark autumn chill.
The boy’s few hours with Bella Grace, an English springer spaniel, and her 12-week-old pup, Madeline, came to a tail-wagging happy ending about 9:20 p.m. Thursday in a neighbor’s cornfield roughly a quarter-mile away, the boy’s grandfather said Tuesday.
…
The lieutenant said the Bella Grace’s movements near the boy “absolutely, for sure” played a major role in leading searchers to the boy so quickly on an increasingly chilly night.“The [older] dog was in preservation and protection mode,” Weiss said.
Dogs are the absolute best. I grew up with dogs my whole life, and the things I’ve seen some of them pull off are nothing short of remarkable.
Most humans are pretty awful people. They’re lazy, have zero ambition, aren’t overly intelligent and just suck in general. But not dogs. A well-trained dog is the most useful companion a human can ever have. They can hunt, provide protection and much more.
If I ever got the sense there was trouble when I was a younger kid, I would grab our male dog and let him loose to investigate. He knew it was time to get down to business the moment he saw a gun.
Now, I never got lost in a cornfield, which is rather shocking because I grew up around them. However, I have no doubt that most dogs would have done what these two dogs did when a child wanders off.
I knew a girl who broke her arm, and was pretty seriously hurt. A dog stood over her and barked until help arrived. Truly incredible animals.