KINGMAN — A wonderful man’s best friend toddler rescue story unfolded near the Mohave and Yavapai County border this week. Ranch dog Buford played a key role in locating, protecting and leading a missing two-year-old boy to safety at the Dunton Ranch about 42 miles east of Kingman.
The boy named Boden was reported missing late Monday afternoon after he wandered from his home in the vicinity of the Interstate 40 Jolly Road exit. Some 16 hours later Buford escorted Boden to the Dunton Ranch where Scotty Dunton rose early Tuesday to perform chores.
“My dog goes out. He’s an Anatolian Pyrenees dog. He basically sleeps all day and he patrols all night, just half a mile, a mile from the house, big circles, to keep the coyotes and stuff off our livestock,” Dunton said.
Dunton said he learned from his wife and Facebook that a search for the missing boy had been conducted overnight. He said joy came when he was getting ready to drive into Kingman about 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday.
“I go down the driveway and here he (Buford) comes walking down the side of the road with this little two-year-old, blonde-haired kid,” Dunton said. He said Boden was frightened when they entered the house to call the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
“Once he got some food and water and realized he was safe, he calmed down and I started talking to him,” Dunton said. He said the boy told him that Buford found him and slept with him under a tree, and that the dog led him to the driveway after they woke up.
Dunton was astounded that Boden covered some hilly terrain, spanning three ridges and two valleys, apparently following a power line road.
“He walked that power line from Jolly all the way to here, which is seven miles,” said Dunton. “I mean it’s straight up and straight down. I can’t believe a two-year-old could do that. It’s pretty amazing.”
Good fortune was on Boden’s side as the sheriff’s office says searchers spotted two mountain lions along the path he traversed. And Dunton said the overnight low was 48 degrees when just days before it dipped down to 27 degrees.
Buford was rewarded with a ribeye steak treat.
