PHOTOS — ‘He Saved His Person’: Oregon Dog Runs Four Miles for Help When Owner’s Car Crashes

A man from Halfway, Oregon, got some unexpected help when he was in desperate need of rescue on Monday.

A report came in to the Baker County Sheriff’s Office about a vehicle that had gone over an embankment on U.S. Forest Service Road 39. The caller was a brother of a man named Brandon Garrett who said his sibling had not arrived at their campsite the day before, the sheriff’s agency explained in a social media post.

His relatives found his vehicle early Monday but could not reach it because of the terrain. Several agencies jumped into action to perform the rescue, the sheriff’s office continued:

Sheriff Ash arrived and located the vehicle, along with a dog, in the steep, brushy ravine. As he was looking for an access point to the creek, he heard a subject yell for help. Brandon Garrett, operator of the vehicle, was located alive approximately one hundred yards from the vehicle above the creek. Sheriff Ash rendered first aid. Pine Valley Rural Fire volunteers and U.S. Forest Service employees used chainsaws to clear a path for Search and Rescue.

When crews finally reached Garrett, he was loaded into a rescue basket and taken across the ravine to safety before being transferred to a local hospital.

It was later discovered that Garrett had been traveling down the service road with his four dogs in tow when a curve in the road caused his vehicle to go off the embankment. That was when he got some special help from one of his pets, who knew exactly what to do.

“One of his dogs traveled the nearly four miles to their camp, which alerted the rest of the party that something was wrong. Garrett was able to crawl approximately one hundred yards from the vehicle, where he spent the night,” the agency said:

His other three dogs were found alive at the scene.

“That doggo helped save his life!!” one social media user commented, while another said, “Amazing. Thankful for this outcome. Somebody get that dog a bone, he saved his person.”

According to the Health Extension website, dogs have the ability to learn to help people by socialization and observation in all kinds of situations.

“Dogs are highly social creatures and are constantly observing and learning from their surroundings. When dogs interact with humans, they quickly learn to interpret human body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions,” the site read.

In March 2023, a rescue dog in Dorset, England, saved her owner as they were taking a walk and he fainted due to low blood sugar and fell into a watery ditch, according to Breitbart News.

The dog stayed by his side and barked repeatedly, which alerted neighbors to the situation.