Farmer’s Heroic Dog Saves Toddler Wandering the Wilderness

No parent or guardian wants to think about their child going missing. Just reading about someone else’s missing kid will cause anyone’s chest to tighten with severe panic. But thankfully, this story, about a missing two-year-old named Boden Allen in Selligman, Arizona, has a happy ending, thanks to one heroic pup.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office told NBC News that the boy disappeared around 5 p.m. on Monday night about 100 miles south of Grand Canyon National Park. Little Boden was wearing just a blue top and pajama pants when he wandered about seven miles through the wilderness (Arizona wilderness — full of mountain lions and coyotes), where anything horrible could have happened to the toddler. More than 40 people were part of the rescue team for him.

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But, thankfully, 16 hours after he went missing, Boden showed up on rancher Scottie Dunton’s property, having been led there by Dunton’s dog, an Anatolian Pyrenees named Buford.

“I got in my truck to go to town, and I see Buford walking down the side of the fence with a little blond kid with him,” Dunton told  NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix. “I had heard about the missing child this morning, so I knew it was him.” Dunton, a beef farmer, said that when he asked Boden if he’d been walking all night, he answered, “‘No, I laid up under a tree.’”

“He went through some rough country, it’s all mountains and canyons and boulder piles, and it’s rough for adults, let alone for two-year-old kids,” Dunton said. “He did a remarkable job to go seven miles like he did.” As for Buford, Dunton didn’t seem surprised at all that his loyal pup would come to a wandering child’s age: “He loves kids, and I imagine he wouldn’t leave him once he’d found him.”

Dogs: the ultimate heroes

Buford has joined the ranks of other notable dogs who have saved vulnerable children from the dangers of the wilderness. In 2020, a dog named Typhoon saved a 12-year-old girl from a venomous jararaca snake in São Paulo, Brazil. Typhoon sustained several bites but kept the girl safe. He was reported at the time to be recovering from the wounds.

The girl’s sister said then that Typhoon really stepped up: “My mother has four dogs, and they all followed, but only Typhoon faced the snake.”

In 2021, a Staffordshire Terrier / Bulldog named Max saved a drowning child from the deepest part of a river in Port Noarlung in South Australia. Max’s dad, Rob Osborn, saw the boy struggling in the river: “The tide was going in, and it was sucking the boy over to all of the big rocks, into a really deep part of the river.” Before Osborn could jump in himself, Max was on his way to rescue the boy. Osborn encouraged the boy to call out for Max and to grab on to the life jacket he was wearing until they got safely to shore.

“He’s definitely a hero, he just doesn’t know it. He was just doing what he was told,” he said.

Buford’s dad told NBC he was getting steak as a reward; here’s hoping these other two pups were equally rewarded.