An Australian farm dog has been making headlines over the weekend after saving a 3-year-old girl lost in the bush overnight. When little Aurora went missing Friday at 3 p.m., the 17-year old blue heeler named Max, who is deaf and partially blind, was right by her side. In fact he stayed with her for 15 hours while she was missing and when morning came, it was Max who helped track down the searchers and led them to Aurora.
The little girl was just 1.2 miles away from her home.
For his efforts, police have named Max an “Honorary Police Dog.”
The blue heeler was first bred in 1840 by Australian George Elliott by mixing native dingoes with collies and other herding dogs. Australian cattlemen and ranchers appreciate the breed’s toughness and work ethic, and are popular cattle herders. The blue heeler is also referred as Australian Heelers, Queensland Heelers, and Australian Cattle Dogs.
This isn’t the first in recent months where we have heard of a farm dog helping rescue a lost child. In October 2017, a two-year-old Minnesota boy became lost in a corn field “counting corn.” It was the family dog who found the boy and stayed with him until help arrived.
