This past summer, Ricardo Rodriguez went camping near Lake Tahoe with his dog Russ. A fun time but turned out to be the most devastating time in Rodriguez’s life.
When Russ panicked, he fled into the surrounding wilderness. Rodriguez remained in the area, hoping that Russ would return to where they had been, but he never did. They searched everywhere for him, but he was not found.
Unfortunately, the time had come when Rodriguez had to leave Lake Tahoe and return home. As the months passed, Rodriguez missed Russ more than ever.
In the months after Russ went missing, a wildfire spread across Northern California, including the area where they had camped.
The fire had consumed more than 114,000 acres, and Rodriguez was terrified that Russ had perished in the flames.
Worse still, the same area suffered an unlikely blizzard in late December. Two feet of snow fell in the Lake Tahoe region, and Rodriguez was certain that if Russ had survived the wildfire, he will surely die in this cold condition.
The hope of one day reunited with his fluffy best friend quickly vanished.
Until one day when Wendy Jones, who runs the animal organization TLC 4 Furry Friends & Tahoe PAWS, was informed of a dog that needed to be rescued after a blizzard.
Two volunteers walked in the thigh-high snow to try to locate the dog in question. THAt is when they spotted Russ curled up in a ball in the snow. They weren’t even sure if he was still alive, but as they got closer, he raised his head.
After taking the puppy to safety, they scanned the microchip and were able to track down Rodriguez, who lives in Southern California, hundreds of miles from where Russ lives.
When Rodriguez received the phone call, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was completely shocked and thought it was too good to be true until he was reunited with Russ.
“If I tried to put myself in that position, I don’t think I would,” Rodriguez speak by Russ. “This guy is something else right here. He overcame it all. ”
Watch their amazing story in the video below:
