For 17 long days, Old Lady wandered alone through the frozen wilderness of Minnesota.
Azure Davis, the founder of Ruff Start Rescue, had helped save the 10-year-old Saint Bernard from a puppy mill in early January—along with nearly 400 other animals. At Ruff Start, Old Lady finally received the care and comfort she had been denied for years. Soon after, she was placed in a foster home where even more love awaited her.
But the harsh Minnesota winter was unforgiving.
“The foster picked Old Lady up and brought her to her home,” Davis told The Dodo. “As soon as the foster got her out of the car on her leash, Old Lady got spooked by the sound of crunching ice and bolted—dragging her foster partway down the icy driveway before breaking free.”
Davis knew the elderly dog wouldn’t survive long in the freezing cold. Without a thick coat of fur to protect her—she had recently been shaved—her chances were slim. Desperate, Davis contacted The Retrievers, a specialized search and rescue team, to help locate Old Lady. But even with professionals involved, the mission was daunting.
Multiple search parties scoured the area, but days turned into weeks with no sign of her. Hope was fading.
“She’s been out there enduring this brutal cold weather,” Davis wrote on Facebook. “Her foster has done everything possible to find her. This dog is incredibly strong and quick, especially for her age.”
As temperatures plunged into the negatives, the rescuers began to fear the worst.
“We only had a few sightings over two and a half weeks,” Davis said. “We tried to stay hopeful, but after January 17, we had nothing. The freezing nights kept us awake, worried about her.”
Then—against all odds—a miracle happened.
Old Lady’s leash had become tangled on a tree branch deep in the woods. Immobilized, she was discovered by a man walking with his two grandsons.
“Between the leash and the branch, she got herself stuck in the trees,” Davis explained. “Thank goodness! It’s the only way we would have found her.”
The man contacted Ruff Start immediately. Davis and her colleague, Julie Lessard, rushed to the scene. They found Old Lady shivering, weak, and starving—but alive.
They gently cut her free and carried her to safety.
“As soon as we got her into my car and shut the door, I could finally breathe,” Davis said. “It was over. She was safe. We laughed, cried, and high-fived—it was such a miracle.”
Davis believes Old Lady’s determination to survive came from a lifetime of endurance. “I think her willpower to live stems from spending ten years in a barn, learning to be strong,” she said.
And Old Lady’s story doesn’t end there. One of the women who had helped search for her fell in love with her picture during the rescue efforts.
“She has experience with Saint Bernards and timid dogs, so it was a perfect match,” Davis said.
Old Lady is now safe, loved, and finally home—proof that even after years of hardship, hope and kindness can bring a lost soul back from the cold.