A Midnight Visitor and an Unbelievable Rescue

Just as I was settling into bed last night, an unexpected visitor arrived—a dog, barking and howling in our yard. No matter what we did, he wouldn’t leave. Every couple of hours, I tried to either shoo him away, coax him to come to me so I could check for tags, or even offer food to quiet him down. But nothing worked.

Eventually, I gave up and decided to turn on the porch light, hoping it might give him a sense of safety if that’s what he was looking for. But the barking continued. 3 a.m.—still barking. 4 a.m.—still barking. Every single minute until 7 a.m., the howling never stopped.

Once daylight broke, I set out to find this mystery dog and figure out what to do. As I followed the sound, I noticed a man standing near a towering pine tree, talking to it. Figuring I had found the source of the commotion, I asked if he was trying to catch the dog too. He chuckled and said, “I found him—he’s mine. He got loose.”

Relieved, I told him the dog had been barking since midnight and asked if he was under the tree. That’s when he said something I never expected:

“No, he’s in the tree. About three-quarters of the way up.”

We both stood there for a moment, staring in disbelief. “I didn’t know dogs could climb trees,” I laughed.

Determined to rescue his dog, Diesel—a hefty hound dog—he grabbed a pair of gloves from his truck and started climbing the unstable branches. I waited at the bottom, ready to call an ambulance if things took a turn for the worse. As he reached Diesel and tried to free him, the stubborn pup wasn’t exactly eager to come down. The man grumbled that it was like having a cat. Despite the branches not being very stable, Diesel kept trying to climb higher.

I suggested pulling some branches down toward me while he nudged Diesel my way so I could catch him. Standing just 5 feet tall, I had to jump up, grab the branches, and lean all my weight into them to make them bend. Just as Diesel moved toward me, he shifted—and kerplunk!—he tumbled safely to the ground.

Of course, he immediately tried to run off again, but I managed to grab him, straddling a pine-sap-covered hound dog while his owner climbed down. After making sure Diesel was safe, and laughing a little, I asked where I should bring him if he ever got loose again. I don't know the owner's name, but I sure know Desiel. 

With that, we said our goodbyes. 

What a way to start the morning!