Three-year-old Aurora loved playing in the bushland near her family’s home in Queensland, Australia. She and her family’s dog, 17-year-old Blue Heeler Max, would run around together, exploring the hills and forest. But one day, Aurora wandered a bit too far from home, and she wasn’t sure how to get back.
The little girl was anxious, but she wasn’t alone—Max stayed by her side.
Max is deaf and partially blind, but he didn’t let that stop him from helping his little human sister.
Max stayed by Aurora’s side as night came and the temperature dropped. He made sure that she was safe and well taken care of.
Meanwhile, Aurora’s family was busy searching for the little girl. They reported her missing on 3 PM on a Friday, and a whole search party went out to look for her, including Aurora’s grandmother Leisa Bennett and her partner Kelly Benston. The search party also included over 100 Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, police officers, and concerned members of the public.
“The search was actually quite hard where the volunteers and the police were, amongst the very steep slopes full of lantana and other vegetation,” Benston told ABC News.
The search party looked and looked, walking up hills and through the trees, but they could find no trace of the little girl. Night fell, and there was still no sign of her. Bennett and Benston kept searching, worried about leaving the little girl overnight.
Fifteen hours after the search began, they finally located her.
Aurora heard Bennett shouting her name and responded, “Grammy!” Then, Bennett learned that Aurora was high up on a mountain, and she was at the bottom of a slope. She had no clue where Aurora was on the mountain.
Thankfully, Max came to save the day again. He raced down the mountain and went to Bennett. Then, he led her to where Aurora was waiting.
Bennett cried tears of joy as she hugged her granddaughter:
“I think [Aurora] was a bit overwhelmed by the tears and the howling, but I explained to her how happy those tears were,” she said. “It could have gone any of 100 ways, but she’s here, she’s alive, she’s well and it’s a great outcome for our family.”
SES Area Controller Ian Phipps was also relieved that Aurora was doing well after everything she went through:
“She’s a very hardy young lass to survive that without any ill effects and everyone, all the volunteers are extremely happy. They had travelled from all over the region just to do the search and that’s one of the things they join the SES for is to look after the community and do these activities … and bring happiness to a family.”
Queensland Police shared a photo of good boy Max on Twitter. They also revealed that he was being made an honorary police dog. The tweet quickly went viral—everyone was amazed at Max’s loyalty.
SUCH A GOOD BOY, MAX! He stayed with his 3-year-old human who was lost near Warwick last night while we frantically searched for her. For keeping her safe, you're now an honorary police dog. 🐶https://t.co/QiszGFP4gg via @ABCNews pic.twitter.com/xxRc6ndeaK
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) April 21, 2018
Max did an amazing job looking after little Aurora after she got lost in the bush. This brave senior dog is a true hero!
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