Owning a dog, you never expect it to be hard and uncertain, but rather joyful. However, there are times, those defining moments that are often far more challenging than easy, when you realize what your furry friend truly means to you.
Recently, Erin Dogouet, a ranch owner from Texas, experienced one such moment when she realized that her long-time livestock guardian, Ziva, was missing.
To make things worse, this striking Kangal girl disappeared after her ranch was inundated with floodwaters, leading Erin to believe her disappearance might be fatal. Fortunately, Ziva’s resilience and a GPS collar worked miracles.
16-Hour Heartbreak
When Erin went on her trip to Colorado, little did she expect that her dog’s life would take an unexpected turn.
She left Ziva, along with hundreds of other ranch animals, with her sister Shannon and a pet sitter, Taelyn. Then, a heartbreak unfolded!
Ziva, a dedicated guardian of her property, was triggered by a wild animal and ran all the way to the far end of the ranch, bordering a river. Unfortunately, due to harrowing flooding hitting Texas at that time, her little adventure turned into a real ordeal.
As the floodwaters progressed, Ziva was soon trapped in a flooded gully. With a roaring river ahead and three sides being too steep to climb out, she was stuck and only inches away from a fatal end.
“Ziva was found trapped in a flooded gully along the flooded Medina River. The roaring river blocked any escape back home, and the three other sides were too steep and slick for her to climb out on her own,” said Erin, as reported by People.
Fortunately, thanks to Ziva’s GPS collar, her owner was able to track her down. After being told that her dog was missing, Erin managed to track the dog on the app, navigating her sister and the sitter to her exact location.
However, the situation didn’t seem to be in Ziva’s favor. The collar kept reporting the same spot for several hours. Despite being “on the radar,” this could also mean that Ziva was already gone – for good!
Tear-Jerking Update
Shannon and Taelyn didn’t waste time.
They followed the signal from the collar through the ranch. When they finally arrived at the scene, they carefully scanned the area, looking for Ziva.
As the floodwaters and mud were everywhere, it was quite difficult to spot this giant dog…until it finally happened! It was Ziva, and she was alive, desperately trying to get out of the gully.
The two worked carefully to get Ziva out, and just minutes later, she was on safe ground.
In a tear-jerking update, Erin couldn’t be more thankful for receiving the most heartwarming update. Finally rescued from what could have been a fatal outcome, Ziva was on her way home. She was safe!
When finally brought home, this 120-pound dog was evidently exhausted. The good news was, Ziva didn’t sustain any injuries. She was just tired, so the first thing she did was sleep for more than ten hours.
There’s no doubt that, after surviving such an ordeal, Erin’s love for Ziva grew even bigger.