BEN LOMOND -- A lost dog is back with its family thanks to residents in a Ben Lomond neighborhood.
On Thursday, residents in the near the 9000 block of Mill Street heard the dog crying for help around 6 a.m., said Todd Stosuy, field services manager for animal services.
One resident found the source: a black Labrador retriever stranded on a small piece of land at the edge of the San Lorenzo River near the homes.
The resident called the Santa Cruz County Animal Services and shelter officials arrived around 2 p.m.
"What we surmised happened is that there's a pathway that leads down to the river and the dog probably walked down to the river to get a drink or something and it must've fallen in," Stosuy said.
Jake Langdon helps rescue a lost Labrador Retriever on Thursday in Ben Lomond. (Contributed) ( SCS )
There were few spots where the dog could escape the waters and so it likely just jumped onto the nearest piece of land it spotted, Stosuy said.
The piece of land -- about two 2 feet by 3 feet -- was surrounded by thorny bushes and was backed by a short but steep cliff.
That's when they decided to try and get to the dog through the home above where the animal was. The home's owner, Jake Langdon, obliged the officers and let them onto his property.
Animal service officers tried to figure out how to rescue the animal and even contemplated using a boat.
"But the first thing we thought of was where are we going to get a boat," Stosuy said.
While they were thinking that, Langdon, 31, had a simple idea: Put on waders and walk the dog into the river and back on the shore.
Langdon, a fisherman, strapped on a pair of waders walked into the waist-deep waters, armed with several hot dogs.
"Just to kind of maybe jinx the dog and see if she wasn't hungry or something. Make friends with him," Langdon said.
While the dog initially barked at Langdon, it relented after a few pieces of the hot dog, Langdon said. He put a leash on the dog and tried to lead it into the water, to no avail. Langdon tugged the leash and the dog leaped into the water.
"She just jumped," Langdon said. "She was ready to get out of there."
The dog was taken to the animal shelter to be checked and, despite having spent hours exposed, the dog was cleared of hypothermia or any other injuries by a veterinarian, Stosuy said.
Had the animal had a dog tag or been microchipped, officers could have brought it immediately home. Luckily, the dog's owners had called hours after the rescue asking about their dog, Stosuy said. But if they hadn't, it's likely the dog would have stayed in the shelter until it was adopted out.
"I can't stress enough how important it is to have a microchip or a tag on the dog," he said.
Follow Sentinel reporter Calvin Men at Twitter.com/calvinmenatwork
www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_24804822/dog-stranded-ben-lomond-river-rescued-hot-dogs
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