There are few experiences more precious for a dog and its person than an evening stroll through well-trodden paths and familiar sights.
Stella, an eight-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer, and her devoted owner, Gary Overman, live for those walks.
Nearly every day, without fail, they make their way to the riverside trails and fields they know so well, and they cherish every moment of it.
That sense of certainty carried them into what they expected to be just another peaceful outing toward their favorite meadow beside the Colorado River in Arizona.
But this time, things took a frightening turn…
He Was Desperate
On past walks, Stella would vanish into a thicket by the riverbank, only to reappear moments later. When she slipped into that same brush now, Gary remained calm, until the seconds stretched into minutes.
“She has wandered off before, but also always has come back,” Gary told The Dodo. “Her sense of where home is has been displayed several times to be absolutely incredible.”
After fifteen minutes with no sign of Stella, panic set in. He called her name repeatedly, then pressed the alarm button on her collar, an alert that usually snapped her back instantly.
Still nothing. Time crept forward inexorably, and more than ninety minutes passed with Stella nowhere in sight. Desperation gnawed at Gary as he wrestled with what to do next.
“I didn’t know what the right thing to do was,” he admitted. “Do I leave the spot where I know she knows where to come back to and try to find her? Or do I just stay put? I decided to stay put.”
A few more agonizing minutes spent in place convinced him that Stella wasn’t returning on her own. Fearing she might have wandered across the state line, and into a place she’d never find her way back from. He set off toward the border, praying for his best friend’s safety.
Life-Saving Rescue
Around a mile downstream, in Yuma, Arizona, U.S. Border Patrol agents were patrolling the river’s current. One officer’s attention was caught by frantic splashing in the water.
Peering closer, the patrol realized an animal was struggling to stay afloat, drifting toward their boat. They sprang into action, cutting the engine and plunging into the chilly flow.
Within moments, the team hoisted the exhausted creature aboard. Sure enough, a tag on her collar read “Stella.” They’d just performed a life-saving rescue, and unknowingly prepared to make one man’s day.
When they called the number on her tag, a nearly distraught Gary answered. His disbelief gave way to overwhelming relief and gratitude.
“It was a huge blessing. What a difference these guys make,” he said, as quoted by US Border Patrol, Yuma Sector, in their Facebook post.
Tears Of Joy
Moments after hanging up that life-changing call, Gary raced to the rendezvous point where the patrol’s boat would dock. As it neared the shore, his heart pounded, and then he saw her.
“Seeing Stella on that boat again, it was an incredible sigh of relief. I must’ve been by an onion field because my eyes were definitely watering,” he laughed through tears.
The instant Stella’s paws touched land, she leaped into Gary’s arms. Their reunion was among the most touching the officers had ever witnessed, and their pride was unmistakable.
“We are glad to be a part of this happy ending!” they added in their post.