Little Peyton and his best friend Ashepoo.
We all know what it is like to have a rambunctious toddler. Two-year-old Peyton Myrick is a whirlwind of movement and activity. Add in Aussie Ashepoo. The protective canine follows little Peyton wherever he goes. So when the toddler showed up missing one afternoon, so did his dog.
Peyton was with his grandfather in Clover, SC and was enjoying the outdoors. When his grandfather went to inflate a tractor tire, the little boy wandered off into the nearby woods. The family franticly searched for the child but could not find him. As the sun began to set and the temperature began to fall, the police were called in along with dozens of concerned friends and neighbors. The little boy and dog could not be found. "I was thinking, this is not going to end good," said Carmen Myrick, Peyton's mother. "As a mother, as a parent, I was just shell-shocked." It had been four hours and Peyton had not been found.
Then around 8:30, Ashepoo emerged from the woods then ran away barking. The protective canine led a group of neighbors behind a nearby barn where they found little Peyton safe and asleep on his jacket. Ashepoo had stayed with the little boy the entire time. "If a dog can be a hero, that dog's a hero," Rich Myrick explained to WSOC-TV. "I think [Peyton] got scared, lay down and took a nap, and Ashepoo stayed right with him. I guess he felt that was his job to protect him and be with him." He also added, "I believe the dog was his guardian angel in fur."
His parents were proud of the Aussie who took care of their son. They plan to get Ashepoo a big steak and the biggest bone they can find. And they also plan to get a GPS for Peyton.