Lost New Hampshire Dog Rescued After Slipping Through Ice One State Over

Australian Shepherds are beautiful dogs, with fluffy fur and often spots or smeared markings.  They are straight out of a 'Yellowstone' episode as they are the herding dog of choice by cowboys, according to the American Kennel Club.

Aussies are smart, like their kin the collie, work hard, and love to herd anything. However, another trait is they love to keep moving.  And moving around is just what one Australian Shepherd named 'Oakley' from Rochester, New Hampshire, did.

Oakley's owner was away, and this intelligent pup needed to run.  It's in his blood. So he found a small hole in the fence and dug through it to make his getaway.

The dog ran to the Rochester Fairgrounds where he was spotted by several folks. So, team members from Granite State Dog Recovery headed there to set a trap for the pooch.  By the time the team arrived, the dog had run away.

Oakley is apparently shy.  So, the chase began.

Next he was seen in a concerned neighbor's yard, so the person called GSDR and gave permission for the team to set up a trap with food.  It worked.  Oakley was spotted on camera coming towards the food, however, at the same time, family visitors pulled into the driveway and off went the dog, running again.

New sightings reported him further and further away, and even on the highway at one point. Then the sightings stopped for a while, which worried Oakley's owner, and GSDR.  Just when everyone wondered if they'd ever find the dog, the team received a call from a man named Mike.

Mike found the dog in the frigid river in Lebanon, Maine.  He had slipped through the ice.  Mike went in and rescued Oakley, carried him back to his truck, dried him off, and blasted the truck heat to warm up the cold Aussie Shepherd.

The recovery team was so excited to get the call.  One reader commented on the Granite State Dog Recovery Facebook page:

So thankful that Mike was in the right place at the right time & was willing to risk his own life to save Oakley. Not everyone would have done that Mike so Thank you!  I’m sure Oakley is very happy to be home & hopefully will never decide to take an unsupervised trip again.