The status of a family dog in Louisiana has been elevated from that of an ordinary dog to a local hero after protecting two young girls that had gone missing from their home for several hours.
The golden retriever named Artemis, who belongs to the Bourg family in Louisiana, happened to be out with seven-year-old Abigail and her little sister, Cecilia, 4, when their parents reported them missing on Monday, December 12.
Their mother, Mary Bourg, recounted to reporters the moment she realized that her two girls were missing from their Folsom home, saying that she started running frantically around their property which comprises around six acres. When she couldn’t find the girls anywhere, she called her husband and told him they were gone.
Local authorities and residents immediately planned for a search party and looked for the sisters for about four hours before they were able to finally locate them. The search party heard the dog barking, and that’s how they found the trio.
The girl’s mother said that canine Artemis was so protective of the girls that he would not let police officers or other people involved with the search party near them. Mom said that Artemis was circling the girls and growling at anyone that came near them to protect them.
Before the girls realized they had gone too far into the woods and were lost, they had already wandered off for over a mile.
Artemis, their protector, laid on top of the girls once they felt too tired to walk and needed a break.
After the search party found them and reunited the girls with their parents, the children related to their parents how they ended up lost in the woods for so long.
They said they got lost while trying to keep up with their scurrying dog.
Abigail Bourg told her parents that Artemis kept running ahead of them, and although they tried to follow him, they couldn’t keep up.
The father of the two young girls, Justin Bourg, told reporters that he would let the golden retriever off the hook because he had kept the family safe. Bourg said that Artemis had earned a free pass for a while, and he would not fuss at him for chewing up their shoes and blankets.
After the successful search for the two kids, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office thanked the Sheriff’s office for Jefferson Parish, the Louisiana State Police, and residents for their quick response and help finding the girls. The Sheriff described the outcome of the search party as a happy ending.
Golden retrievers rank at the top of the United States’ most popular dog breeds. They are highly intelligent, loyal, adaptive, and have terrific instincts. These qualities make them great family dogs, and according to Puppy in Training, they can easily read emotions and understand routines.
They have a sweet and calm nature and were originally bred as working dogs. They always want to please their owners and work with them.
Artemis got them into trouble, but he helped get them back to safety with love.