Ranch dog protects toddler all night in freezing Arizona desert: What happened next was unbelievable!

In stories of survival, it's often the most unlikely heroes that shine the brightest. That was the case in northwest Arizona this week, where a 2-year-old boy vanished into the desert—and a giant ranch dog became the key to bringing him home.
According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, 2-year-old Boden Allen was reported missing Monday afternoon after wandering away from his home near Seligman. Dressed in only a tank top, pajama pants, and Vans sneakers, he had walked nearly seven miles into the rugged desert, where overnight temperatures dropped into the 40s—and where mountain lions, coyotes, and even bears have been seen roaming.
But what happened next was nothing short of astonishing.
Buford, a 160-pound half-Great Pyrenees, half-Anatolian working ranch dog, found Boden in the wilderness and stayed by his side through the cold, dangerous night.
After a 16-hour search involving over 40 people from multiple agencies, it was rancher Scotty Dunton who spotted them early Tuesday morning.
“I see my dog walking down the fence with a little blonde, cute little 2-year-old kid,” Dunton told FOX Weather.

Scotty and his wife Dawn run Dunton Ranch, a cattle operation about 7 miles from where Boden was last seen. Dawn had told her husband about the missing child that morning.
“I knew exactly who it was,” Scotty said. “I was really worried. I mean, as cold as it is at night and stuff. I really was thinking the worst.”
When Dunton found Boden, the little boy was crying and upset. He scooped him up, comforted him, and brought him inside to call the sheriff’s office.
After Boden chugged a gallon of water and munched on string cheese and a banana, he began to bounce back. Dunton, a father and grandfather himself, was amazed by the toddler’s resilience.
“I said, ‘You’re the toughest 2-year-old I’ve ever come across,’” he recalled.
Dunton later spotted the boy’s tiny shoe prints alongside Buford’s tracks. “Buford has a way he comes home every day down the side, and across the wash; his little tracks were right with him the whole way,” he told FOX Weather. “So, yeah, he brought him right here.”
Boden had apparently curled up under a tree with Buford during the night, using the dog’s thick fur as a blanket against the chilly air. Dunton explained that while overnight lows had recently warmed into the 40s, just last week they were dipping into the 20s.
And if the cold wasn’t enough, the area is known for its wildlife dangers. “There’s lions, there’s coyotes. There’s a couple of bears that came through a couple of weeks ago,” Dunton said. “There’s all sorts of hazards up here for that kid. So, if the dog was with him, that dog would die rather than let that kid get hurt.”

According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona Department of Public Safety rangers conducting an aerial search spotted two mountain lions near the path Boden had taken.
Buford, a night-shift worker who guards cattle from predators on the ranch, happened to be in the right place at exactly the right time. “I don’t know how long the dog was with him. I mean, it’s 7 miles, so he definitely spent a lot of it on his own,” Dunton said.
As deputies came to reunite Boden with his parents, who were understandably terrified and overjoyed, Boden made one final request: He wanted Dunton to ride along.
Dunton says the boy is now doing well and “back to his normal self” after his incredible overnight ordeal.
And Buford? The furry hero got exactly what he deserved—“a well-deserved rib-eye steak for dinner on Tuesday night.”