Police are crediting a loyal dog for the survival of an Arizona toddler, who wandered away from her home on Thursday night.

After an evening walk Victoria Bensch’s mom left the 3-year-old playing on the porch when she went inside for a couple of minutes. Upon her return the little girl and her dog were no where to be found, they just disappeared.

The family spent about an hour searching for Victoria before contacting authorities. While crews only had about 30 minutes of daylight to search the rugged area for the little girl, deputies launched another prong of the operation.

“We visited every registered sex offender in this community,” YSCO spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn said. “With their consent, we were able to do a search of every single sex offender’s home. They were very cooperative and we were able to rule them out really quickly.”

About 70 rescue personnel from various agencies searched her neighborhood and checked cars leaving the town, deputies said.

After the sun was back up, the Department of Public Safety Ranger’s helicopter spotted the toddler and her companion Blue, about half a mile away from the house lying under a shrub.

Dressed only in a T-shirt, pants and tennis shoes authorities believe that that dog stayed with her and kept warm. This is probably what saved her life as temperatures dropped to the low 30’s in the area.

Professional dog trainer, Keith Coddington told new crews he isn’t surprised that Victoria’s beloved dog, Blue, stayed by her side the entire 14 hours the girl was missing.

“This was a deeper connection the dog had with the child,” Coddington said. “Otherwise, if that connection wasn’t there, it might not have happened the way it did.”

Coddington said huddling together to stay warm is typical dog pack behavior. He said Blue considered Victoria as a fellow member of the pack for which the dog is responsible. “If the same thing happened tonight, the dog would do the same thing.”

Blue breed versatile breed, a Queensland Healer, is part of the Australian Cattle Dog Family. They are known for being; a courageous and tireless worker, an intelligent and athletic companion and a loving and playful family pet.

After her adventure, Victoria was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for an examination. — authorities said they were only concerned about frostbite.

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A newborn baby that had just come home suffered cuts and puncture wounds yesterday after a family dog snatched it from a crib and apparently took it into the woods.

Officials did not release the name of the infant or his parents, but said the 3-day-old boy was in intensive care at University of Kentucky Hospital.

The infant, who was taken home Sunday, was in a crib when a Native American Indian dog took the baby into its mouth “like a toy or a small pup,” Deputy Sheriff Anthony Purcell said.

The father saw the dog in the yard with the baby, but the dog ran into some woods. It later came out of the woods with nothing in its mouth. Hearing the infant crying, the father found the baby about 150 yards into the woods, with cuts and puncture wounds to his torso and face.

“The dog had a history of grabbing things off counters and hiding things,” Mr. Purcell said. The dog was slightly larger than a collie.

Animal Control took the dog but it has not been destroyed. The family has two Native American Indian dogs and a Labrador.

According to dogbreedinfo.com,

The Native American Indian Dog’s intelligence level is extremely high. Highly trainable and eager to please their human companions. They are loyal and protective of their families. Socialize well to avoid them being shy with strangers, but are totally dedicated to their human owners. Native American Indian Dog’s are sensitive animals that do well with firm authority, but not harshness. They are very good with children and other animals, including other dogs, household pets as well as livestock.

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• Puppies Save Lost 3-Year-Old Boy From Freezing In Virginia woods

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The study, which was conducted over a six-year period, found that growing up with a pet trains the immune system to be less sensitive to potential triggers for allergies like asthma, eczema and hay fever.

Kids may get beneficial early exposure to germs carried into the house on the animal’s fur, which helps their immune systems develop.

“Our results show clearly that the presence of a dog in the home during subjects’ infancy is associated with a significantly low level of sensitization to pollens and inhaled allergens,” said Joachim Heinrich of the National Research Centre for Environmental Health in Munich.

The same protective effect was not seen in children who had frequent contact with dogs but did not have one at home.

Previous studies have suggested that exposure to pets may have a protective effect against allergies but many of these studies were based on retrospective questioning of subjects about their exposure.

I knew our dog was good for more than giving kisses and finishing my sons half eaten dinners!
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PHOTOCREDIT: ME! That’s our wrinkletastic puppy Molli!