COLOMA, Calif. – Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 – In a story that puts a unique twist on the classic “cat stuck in a tree” trope, meet Luna, the adventurous 70-pound German Shepherd who took tree climbing to unprecedented heights in Lotus, California.
Brian Spies, Luna’s owner, embarked on an unexpected search and rescue mission after realizing his usually earth-bound companion had gone missing since Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Luna, a spirited 10-month-old, typically roams the mountainous terrain with her two canine comrades. Concerned for her safety, Spies and his family scoured the area until nightfall, fearing Luna might be injured after a night out in the cold.
What they didn’t anticipate was Luna’s vertical endeavors. It wasn’t until the next day, around 10:30 a.m., that friends Luka Bogdanovich and Jared Johnson made the astonishing discovery. Luna, silent as a mouse, was perched an impressive 25 feet up a pine tree.
“I’m just driving down the road and look left. I’ll be darned. I see something in the tree, and I went, ‘Holy cow, that’s the dog,'” exclaimed Bogdanovich.
Spies theorized that Luna, in pursuit of a nimble squirrel, reached a point of realization: “I made a ginormous mistake.” The chosen pine tree, despite its angle, posed a steep challenge for a dog of her size.
In a rescue mission that resembled a scene from a canine-centric action movie, Spies, who works in construction, brought out a 24-foot extension ladder. With his friends holding the ladder and a sleeping bag as a precaution, Spies executed a daring bear hug maneuver to bring Luna safely down without a scratch.
“I had to bear hug her and walk down the ladder with no hands. We felt like firefighters,” Spies recounted.
Post-rescue, Luna showed signs of fatigue but swiftly bounced back to her usual playful self. Reflecting on this unexpected escapade, Spies humorously declared, “If she ever gets lost again, we’ll look up because she can climb trees.”
It seems Luna’s daring ascent has not only elevated her status in the tree-climbing community but has also taught her human companions to always consider the vertical dimension when their adventurous pup decides to explore.
#LunaTheTreeClimber #AdventurousPup
