In a heartwarming tale of survival and unwavering hope, a Cincinnati family was confronted with their worst nightmare when their beloved dog, Edgar, went missing for an entire week. However, their despair turned to a mix of shock and joy when they discovered that Edgar had been trapped inside a drainage pipe throughout that time, frightened, hungry, and whimpering.

Meet Edgar, a 4-year-old black retriever mix, whose incredible journey serves as a cautionary tale for pet owners everywhere.

Edgar, along with his faithful companion Oscar, had managed to escape from the family’s garage while their owner, Sean Ryan, worked on his car. While the Ryans used an electric fence and leashes as needed, they occasionally allowed their dogs to roam freely during supervised playtime. Whenever the dogs had previously slipped away, they had always returned home on their own, sometimes covered in mud after adventurous nights in the woods.

Sean Ryan lovingly described his dogs, saying, “They are good boys, but they love to sneak out. They’ll get loose and come home within a night or two.”

However, this time was different. Oscar made it back home the following morning, but Edgar remained missing. As the days turned into a week, the family’s concern deepened.

“We figured if he was on our street, he wasn’t lost,” Sean Ryan optimistically explained. “He would just come home.” But days turned into a whole week, and Edgar was still nowhere to be found.

Then, one morning, while out for his morning walk with Oscar and feeling despondent at the thought of losing his dog, Sean Ryan heard a familiar high-pitched whine. Edgar had a distinctive whining pattern, and Sean couldn’t ignore the sound. Despite seeing no dog in sight, he patiently waited to confirm the source of the noise.

As the whining grew louder, he approached a neighbor’s lawn where a vertical pipe intersected a drainage ditch beneath it. It was there that he found Edgar.

“I could see nothing but his eyes glowing back at me,” Sean Ryan recalled, his emotions welling up. “He became frantic. He was happy to see me but so desperate for me to get him out.”

Overwhelmed with a mix of emotions—joy at finding his dog and horror at the sight of him trapped in the pipe—Sean paced in circles, trying to figure out how to free Edgar.

The fire department was summoned, and a rescue team quickly arrived. After digging to expose the pipe, they cut a hole a few feet away from where Edgar was located and gently coaxed him out. Starving and covered in sores from lying in water, Edgar had endured a harrowing ordeal.

Fortunately, a visit to the vet revealed that there would be no lasting harm. Edgar received an IV bag, a blood test, antibiotics, and a shave to facilitate the healing of his wounds.

“He’s made a remarkable recovery,” Sean Ryan remarked. “In fact, he’s already ventured back to the scene!”

Sean Ryan couldn’t shake the guilt he felt since the incident, but the happy ending brought relief not only to him but also to his wife, Juli, and their 20-year-old son, Lucas, who shared Edgar’s story with the world through a popular Imgur gallery.

The family now plans to invest in GPS trackers for both of their dogs to ensure they can indulge in their adventurous side without fear.

For Sean Ryan, the lesson goes beyond responsible pet ownership. He reflected, “I can’t believe how close I was to giving up. We walk that loop every day… I walked by him, I don’t know how many times. That’s what I hope people take from this. Don’t assume, and don’t ever give up.”