Dog finds and rescues toddler who spent night lost and alone in Arizona desert

A rancher’s dog in Arizona is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a local 2-year-old boy who had wandered nearly seven miles away from home and spent the night in the desert.

On Monday evening, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office got a report of the missing toddler, Boden Allen, who was reported to have walked away from his home in the small town of Seligman, Ariz., the agency said in a Facebook post.

Dressed in just a tank top and pajama pants, Allen spent some 16 hours alone as he wandered, according to the sheriff’s office, and the desert area he walked through had at least two mountain lion sightings that night. But at 9 a.m. local time, he was retrieved by a dog named Buford.

Sheriff’s office spokesperson Paul Wick told NPR that Allen’s parents were “distraught” at the boy’s disappearance and shared a teary reunion at his return.

In an interview with the sheriff’s office, the rancher, Scotty Dundon, said, “I’d heard about the missing child before I was going to town, and when I was driving out the driveway I noticed my dog was sitting down by the entrance. And I look up, and the little kid’s standing there with my dog.”

Dunton said he suspected the boy followed a powerline down from his house and into his property where Buford found him and brought him in.

“It was a relief that he was alive. I was ecstatic that he was ok and that my dog found him,” Dunton said of the toddler.

Buford is an Anatolian Pyrenees, which are noted for their size and tender nature.

The gentle giant guards around the house at night, Dunton said, protecting the property from threats of coyotes.

Dunton told authorities that when he first got to the 2-year-old, the boy needed water and food to calm himself before he explained that he had spent the night laying under a tree.

“[Buford] loves kids. I can imagine he wouldn’t leave him if he found him,” Dunton said, expressing bewilderment that the child had made it nearly seven miles from home all on his own.

Allen was in good health when he was found, with only a few cuts and scrapes, as well as being mildly dehydrated, according to Wick.