The dog who rescued a missing toddler from the Arizona wilderness is being rewarded for his good behavior.
The pair were reunited on Monday afternoon for the first time since 2-year-old Bodin Allen was rescued last week.
“It’s a story of faith on my side,” Corey Allen, Bodin’s father, said.
Bodin wandered away from his home in Seligman on April 14 around 4 p.m. By nightfall, the boy was nowhere to be found, and search parties spanned the remote area near I-40.
“He was actually going on a journey that we never thought was possible,” Allen said. “Just rough terrain, rocks, trees everywhere. It’s very easy to hide.”
The toddler walked for seven miles, avoiding wild animals and major injuries along the way.
“We saw lots of coyotes and there were places he could have fallen and gotten hurt,” Yavapai County Search and Rescue Team 4×4 Unit Manager John Harris said.
The Yavapai County Search and Rescue Team was out on foot, on 4x4s, and up in the air searching for Bodin through light and dark for 16 hours.
“He is a very lucky young man,” Harris said.
Luckily, Bodin had someone protecting him.
“I can see how he was kept warm all night,” Allen said.
Buford, the Anatolian Pyrenees, found the boy sleeping under a tree and guided him to the Dunton Ranch, where he lives.
Buford’s owner, Scotty Dunton, said he verified the tracks just hours after the rescue.
“He definitely walked the whole way. It was crazy. I got Buford with him for a mile. Then I got in the rocks and lost his track, but he was with him for at least a mile from my house,” Dunton said.
Gifts for Buford have arrived on the Dunton’s doorstep in the week since the rescue. Dunton said they’ve heard from people around the world.
“Toys, chew toys, snacks, you name it, just a little bit of everything,” Dunton said.
The rewards for this good boy are still coming.
Buford became an honorary member of the Yavapai County Search and Rescue Team, and they even gave him a vest to prove it.
“It’s very rewarding to our members when a search is successful, and people aren’t really focused on who found him,” Harris said. “They’re just glad that they were found, that’s the bottom line.”
Life is back to normal for the Allen family.
“He’s just active, just exploring all the time,” Allen said.
Still, they’ll always remember the ranch dog who saved their little boy.
“I just look at a miracle, and I’m never going to forget it,” Allen said.
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