A Yellowknife man has been reunited with his dog, thanks to an extraordinary rescue effort.

After a five-day, 80-km paddleboarding trip down the Beaulieu River, Yellowknifer Tyler Fissel and his fellow paddleboarders awaited their float plane pickup at Pauline Bay.

Just 15 minutes before the plane arrived, Charles, a German Shepherd-Malamute rescue, took off for the hills wearing his collar and bear bell.

After more than an hour of searching and calling for him with the plane on standby, Fissel was forced to make an excruciating decision: stay in the bush alone with a satellite device and search for Charles, or get on the plane back to Yellowknife.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was the worst plane ride of my life,SA国际影视传媒� said Fissel.

All the way down the Beaulieu River, Charles stuck by Fissel's side, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淲e scoured the entire cliff top, but couldn't hear him, couldn't see him. It was very uncharacteristic, so I started to worry he'd been lured out by an animal and I was starting to worry something had happened to him,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淢y other option was to stay behind but I was just mentally and physically exhausted and a wreck at this point.SA国际影视传媒�

The Air Tindi pilot, Hank Pietersma, suggested doing a fly over to see if they could find Charles before returning to Yellowknife.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was hard. I felt really guilty and couldn't believe I was leaving my dog behind. But, also, had really no option at that point in time,SA国际影视传媒� said Fissel. SA国际影视传媒淲e touched down in Yellowknife and (I) just broke down, and my friends picked me up at the air base. At that point I thought he was gone.SA国际影视传媒�

Not far off from the pick up point, Sandi Edgemon and her husband were at a fishing camp.

Hailing from West Richland, Wash., the two have visited the territory 17 times since 1999.

This was their most eventful trip, said Edgemon in an interview with Yellowknifer.

Edgemon had spotted the paddleboarders at the mouth of the Beaulieu River and their guide joked that Charles looked like a wolf.

Later, their guide told them the dog had run off before their plane arrived.

SA国际影视传媒淚 felt all at once this emotional pain of how Tyler must feel, how the dog's owner must feel ... just having finished this tremendous trip and to have a dog run away,SA国际影视传媒� said Edgemon.

Air Tindi exchanged information with the fishing camp and a map and note describing where Charles could be were sent airborne with an outbound Ahmic Air pilot.

Meanwhile, the fishers were out all afternoon, scanning the land for signs of the escaped canine, said Edgemon.

SA国际影视传媒淚 noticed there was movement and it was Charles running across the rock, I said, 'There he is! There's the dog!'SA国际影视传媒� she said.

The group radioed the fishing camp to retrieve him, and Charles came down wagging his tail, she said.

They brought Charles back to the camp, where they kept him overnight and fed him.

SA国际影视传媒淗e kind of became a mascot for us and everyone in the camp was fawning over him,SA国际影视传媒� said Edgemon.

SA国际影视传媒淔olks would go over and scratch his ears and he began leaning into me and rolled over on his belly.SA国际影视传媒�

When they reached Fissel by satellite, SA国际影视传媒渢here were a lot of happy emotions,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Fissel was relieved, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淭hree hours after landing in Yellowknife, we got word from (a tour guide) saying they found the lost dog of Pauline Bay,SA国际影视传媒� said Fissel. SA国际影视传媒淚 get a phone call... on a satellite phone saying that they found Charles. I was relieved. I felt bad and guilty that I left him at that point. But it was amazing he got found.SA国际影视传媒�

By the time the plane arrived, Charles was alert and ready to board the Ahmic Air flight, said Edgemon, who added that finding the lost dog was the highlight of her vacation.