/r/AnimalsBeingSmart
A place for sharing videos, gifs, and images of animals doing smart things.
/r/AnimalsBeingSmart
Cut and pasted synopsis from Crikey because paywalled
“Saul was walking alongside his closest friend in California’s Tahoe National Forest on a pleasant hike together when it happened. In a split second, his friend (whose name was not released) lost his footing and fell some 21 metres down a ridge. When the man came to a stop, he’d broken a hip and ribs. Neither of them had a phone. The man was able to limp his injured body up onto a rocky area, where they had set up camp, and call for help, with an anxious Saul alongside him. The outlook was grim — the area wasn’t accessible by vehicles, so people would need to search for the pair on foot. The injured man pulled some camouflage tarp over himself, and, laying in a bed of dirt, waited in considerable pain. Saul, however, could not stay still. He knew something was seriously wrong with his friend — what, he didn’t know. That’s when Saul heard something, several hundred metres away.
He dashed towards the noise coming from a nearby forest and came across people — volunteers with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue group. Excited, Saul told them to follow him in the best way he knew how. He jumped up and down on his four legs, spun around in circles chasing his tail, and looked back at them, as if to say: “What, you’ve never seen a dog rescue his best friend before?” One volunteer was like, I think it wants us to follow it. They didn’t put a whole lot of faith in the dog, but one volunteer said Saul had made eye contact with them and felt compelled to follow. Saul led them straight to his injured owner. The man was taken to hospital, but after asking for his Saul, was reunited with the heroic pooch. Saul was also pleased to receive the highest accolade a dog could get (in a dog’s opinion, anyway): a beef jerky stick.
Wishing you the determination and courage of Saul today, folks.”