Missing Arizona Toddler Is Led Seven Miles to Safety by Ranch Dog

A 2-year-old who wandered away from his Arizona home is safe thanks to a loyal ranch dog who guided him to safety, officials said.  The rancher who owns the dog said he was leaving his property to go into town when he spotted his dog sitting by the entrance — “and a little kid’s standing there with my dog,” the rancher told Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies. 

The toddler had wandered off from his home in Seligman (80 miles northwest of Flagstaff) sometime before 5 pm.  More than 40 search and rescue members, deputies and rangers searched for the child overnight, the department said.  “After 16 hours of searching, a rancher approximately 7 miles away reported that a young child had walked onto his property,” the department said. “Upon arrival at the ranch, deputies confirmed this was indeed the missing boy.”

The rancher told deputies he had heard about the missing boy and figured his dog Buford had found him while patrolling the property and likely brought him back to the ranch, the department said.  “He’s an Anatolian Pyrenees so he’s a guardian dog, so he just kind of patrols within a half mile of the house all night and keeps coyotes away and stuff like that,” the rancher told deputies. “I’m guessing he found him over here in the horse pasture somewhere under a tree and just brought him home. So that’s what he does. He loves kids so I can imagine he wouldn’t leave him when he found him.” 

The rancher said he brought the boy inside, gave him some water and food and got him to calm down enough to describe what had happened.  “I said ‘did you walk all night?’ and he said no,” the rancher told deputies. “He said ‘I laid up under a tree’ and I said ‘well, did my dog find you?’ and he goes ‘yep.’

How the toddler made it through seven miles of rough, dangerous high desert terrain on his own is a mystery.  During the search, a ranger said they spotted two mountain lions from a rescue helicopter among the terrain where the boy would have traveled. There were also three mountain ranges with large valleys) between the boy's house and the ranch where he was eventually found.

“So I was, you know, ecstatic that he was okay and my dog found him,” the rancher said.  Several people in the comments said they had a hard time believing it themselves. But those familiar with the Arizona countryside seemed familiar with the concept of a kid wandering off to explore.  “Country kids do as country kids do,” someone said.

Several people also praised Buford the dog for his heroic effort. “I hope he gets a really big huge bone,” someone said.  The rancher rewarded the dog with a steak dinner, he told AZFamily.