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What started as a fun bachelor party on the Minnesota River quickly turned into something no one expected. The group had been paddling for a full day and night without seeing another soul, just soaking in the peace of nature. But that calm was interrupted by the sound of a dog barking somewhere behind them.
Mitch White, the groom-to-be, described it later in a Facebook post: “My nephew heard a dog barking behind him and turned the canoe around to see what was going on…” That’s when they saw it—a massive furry head poking up from the riverbank.
They pulled their canoes to shore and discovered a senior St. Bernard hopelessly stuck in the thick, sticky mud. The poor dog was buried up to his neck, completely unable to move.
“We saw he was buried up to his neck in the thickest of mud,” Mitch wrote. With no proper tools, the group grabbed their canoe paddles and started digging. It was clear the dog had been trapped for a while, and they didn’t want to waste a single second.
As they worked, they called 911 for help. The Carver Fire Department was soon en route, but while they waited, the men focused on keeping the dog as comfortable as they could.
“We gave him water—he drank about half a gallon before stopping,” Mitch wrote. “We also gave him some of our lunch meat and summer sausage we’d just been eating.” Everything about the moment shifted. What began as a party became a rescue mission, and everyone was on board.
By the time fire captain Shaun Cox arrived, the group had been digging for about 20 minutes. “When I first saw the dog up to his back in the mud, I felt pretty bad for him, as he looked exhausted,” Cox later said.
At first, the men were unsure how the dog would react. He was a huge St. Bernard, after all, and they didn’t know if he was frightened or in pain. But to their relief, the dog—later identified as Ed—was nothing but sweet and cooperative. He seemed to understand they were trying to help.
Once he was free, Ed was gently loaded into a truck bed, finally able to rest. His owner, who had been searching for him after he went missing from their nearby property, was overjoyed to have him back. Ed had been gone for just a day, but no doubt it had felt much longer to both dog and family.
“I was happy to see them reunited,” Cox said. “Ed looked a lot better the next day, after having had a bath.”
