Skip to content
NOWCAST WISN 12 News This Morning
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

'Holy cow, that's the dog': Luna the German shepherd safe after being found at least 25 feet up a tree

You’ve heard about cats getting stuck in trees. What about a 70-pound German shepherd?

'Holy cow, that's the dog': Luna the German shepherd safe after being found at least 25 feet up a tree

You’ve heard about cats getting stuck in trees. What about a 70-pound German shepherd?

HOW THIS HAPPENED AND WHAT IT TOOK TO RESCUE THE ANIMAL. YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT A CAT STUCK IN A TREE, BUT WHAT ABOUT A GERMAN SHEPHERD? LUNA? TEN MONTH OLD LUNA STUCK ON A SLANTED TREE 25FT UP IN THE AIR. ONLY NO ONE KNEW THE DOG WAS THERE. JUST SEARCHING EVERYWHERE WE COULD. LUNA’S OWNER, BRIAN SPIES, SAYS SHE WENT MISSING SUNDAY MORNING. HE LOOKED FOR HER ALL THROUGHOUT THE FOREST NEAR HIS HOUSE IN EL DORADO COUNTY, WORRIED THAT HIS WORST FEAR HAD COME TRUE. WE HAVE BEARS. WE GOT MOUNTAIN LIONS, COYOTES, FOXES. YEAH, WE KIND OF GOT THEM ALL. SO WE DIDN’T KNOW IF A MOUNTAIN LION SNAGGED HER. BRIAN’S FRIENDS. THEN JOINED THE SEARCH FOR LUNA, AND MORE THAN A DAY AFTER SHE WENT MISSING, THEY FINALLY FOUND HER OUT HERE IN THIS WOODED AREA BEHIND HIS HOME. I JUST DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND LOOK LEFT AND I’LL BE DARNED. I SEE SOMETHING IN A TREE. AND I WENT, HOLY COW, THAT’S THE DOG. IT’S A SIGHT. BRIAN’S FRIEND LUCA NEVER EXPECTED TO SEE. LUCA IMMEDIATELY CALLED BRIAN, WHO MADE HIS WAY THERE AND USED AN EXTENSION LADDER FROM HIS WORK TRUCK TO GET TO HIS DOG. KIND OF REACHED UP AND GRABBED HER AND BEAR HUGGED HER AND WALKED DOWN THE LADDER WITH WITH NO HANDS, JUST KIND OF. AS CAREFULLY AS POSSIBLE. LUNA IS NOW SAFE AND SOUND AND BACK ON THE GROUND. YESTERDAY, SHE WAS A LITTLE TIRED, YOU KNOW, SLEPT A LOT. BUT TODAY SHE’S BACK TO HERSELF. SO HOW DID SHE EVEN GET IN THE TREE? WE WERE THINKING THAT SHE CHASED A SQUIRREL. THE SQUIRREL TOOK OFF UP THE TREE AND LUNA JUST RIDE IT UP THERE. WHATEVER THE REASON, BRIAN IS GLAD LUNA IS HOME AND HE’S LEARNED A LESSON FROM HER ADVENTURE. IF SHE EVER GETS LOST AGAIN, WE LOOK UP BECAUSE SHE CAN CLIMB TREES. REPORTING IN EL DORADO COUNTY, ORKO MANNA KCRA THREE NEWS. AMAZING. BRIAN SAYS DESPITE PROBABLY BEING SCARED UP IN THAT TREE, LUNA DID NOT BARK OR MAKE ANY NOISE. SO HE’S REALLY GLA
Advertisement
'Holy cow, that's the dog': Luna the German shepherd safe after being found at least 25 feet up a tree

You’ve heard about cats getting stuck in trees. What about a 70-pound German shepherd?

You’ve heard about cats getting stuck in trees. What about a 70-pound German shepherd? Brian Spies said he hopes his dog Luna has “learned her lesson” after he found her perched at least 25 feet up a pine tree near his home on Monday morning in Lotus, California, which is around 45 miles outside of California's capital city of Sacramento.Luna, who is around 10 months old, had been missing since Sunday at around 8:30 a.m. She usually pals around with two other family dogs outside but this time hadn’t returned, Spies said. “We basically looked for her all day, driving around the mountain and calling for her,” he said. “We were worried that she was injured. She would be out all night in the cold so that’s why we searched until dark.”What he didn’t think about was looking up. That’s how his friends Luka Bogdanovich and Jared Johnson spotted her in the tree the next day, around 10:30 a.m. No one ever heard a bark or whimper. "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,'" Bogdanovich said. Spies said the theory is that Luna was chasing a squirrel “and then realized, ‘I made a ginormous mistake.’” The pine tree is at an angle but it’s still steep.“It was an impressive climb and how high she made it up,” Spies said. Spies, who works in construction, said he brought a 24-foot extension ladder for a rescue attempt. His friends held the ladder and a sleeping bag in case things went awry. “I had to bear hug her and walk down the ladder with no hands,” he said. “We felt like firefighters.” Spies explained that Luna was tired Monday after being rescued, but she is now back to her normal, playful self. Spies also said he has learned a lesson from Luna's adventure."If she ever gets lost again, we'll look up, because she can climb trees," Spies said with a chuckle.

You’ve heard about cats getting stuck in trees. What about a 70-pound German shepherd?

Brian Spies said he hopes his dog Luna has “learned her lesson” after he found her perched at least 25 feet up a pine tree near his home on Monday morning in Lotus, California, which is around 45 miles outside of California's capital city of Sacramento.

Advertisement

Luna, who is around 10 months old, had been missing since Sunday at around 8:30 a.m. She usually pals around with two other family dogs outside but this time hadn’t returned, Spies said.

“We basically looked for her all day, driving around the mountain and calling for her,” he said. “We were worried that she was injured. She would be out all night in the cold so that’s why we searched until dark.”

What he didn’t think about was looking up. That’s how his friends Luka Bogdanovich and Jared Johnson spotted her in the tree the next day, around 10:30 a.m. No one ever heard a bark or whimper.

"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,'" Bogdanovich said.

Luna the tree-climbing dog
Jared Johnson


Spies said the theory is that Luna was chasing a squirrel “and then realized, ‘I made a ginormous mistake.’”

The pine tree is at an angle but it’s still steep.

“It was an impressive climb and how high she made it up,” Spies said.

Luna the tree-climbing dog.
Brian Spies

Spies, who works in construction, said he brought a 24-foot extension ladder for a rescue attempt. His friends held the ladder and a sleeping bag in case things went awry.

“I had to bear hug her and walk down the ladder with no hands,” he said. “We felt like firefighters.”

Spies explained that Luna was tired Monday after being rescued, but she is now back to her normal, playful self. Spies also said he has learned a lesson from Luna's adventure.

"If she ever gets lost again, we'll look up, because she can climb trees," Spies said with a chuckle.