Louie is almost two years old and is a valued member of the Neufeldt family.
“He’s really mischievous, I would say. He brings a lot of joy to our family,” Louie’s owner Julia Neufeldt said about him.
Louie loves digging and playing chase, so he always enjoys being at the dog park. However, his most recent visit wasn’t as fun as it normally is.
A family friend took Louie to Furdale Dog Park over the weekend and he ended up getting lost.
“She called me saying she couldn’t find him for the last 20 minutes and so I immediately burst into tears and flew into a panic,” Neufeldt recalled.
Friends and family helped the Neufeldts find their lost family member while a giant snowstorm hit Saskatoon. There were a lot of people worried about him and photos of Louie got shared thousands of times on social media.
“That’s what kept us going and really kept us from not giving up on him. These people were just rallying behind us and I honestly didn’t expect it,” Neufeldt said.
While the search efforts continued through treacherous conditions, an unexpected hero found Louie days later — someone who didn’t even know he was missing.
Nine-month-old Banjo was exploring while his owner was cross-country skiing at Furdale Dog Park Wednesday. He found a cold Louie nestled 50 metres away from the path and took his owner back to show him his discovery.
Louie was then reunited with his family after being away from them for three days. He lost some weight and has a bit of a limp, but is otherwise healthy.
Banjo competes in the Versatile Hunting Dog Federation, so his instincts helped him sniff out Louie. The Neufeldts are grateful Banjo was able to help bring Louie home.
“He’s honestly the true hero of this whole thing because (Louie) wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him,” Neufeldt said.
It doesn’t seem the hero status has gotten to Banjo’s head. He’s busy training to be a sled dog.
As for Louie, he’s been happily taking in all the extra attention.
“We’ve been giving him some treats and it shouldn’t take too long to gain the weight back because he loves food,” Neufeldt said.