The dog, named Asproulis, lives with his owner Christos Zacharis in Haliki of Aspropotamos. Nine days earlier, he had followed a group of French hikers and became effectively trapped on the steep, snow-covered mountain slopes, too frightened to descend.

Yesterday morning, a group of Greek mountaineers who had heard about the dog’s disappearance—since his owner runs a traditional café in the village—were climbing toward Tsoukarela peak when they suddenly heard distress cries.

According to mountaineer Marina Koraki, who participated in the rescue, the group initially could not see the dog because of his white fur blending with the snow. Realizing he was calling for help, the team split in two: most continued their climb while the more experienced climbers went to locate and rescue the animal.

They eventually found the young dog at 1,900 meters, exhausted and extremely thin after nine days without food. Koraki noted that the dog had lost so much weight that the collar around his neck was hanging loosely.

The hikers fed him and began the descent. As seen in a video, Asproulis seemed to “thank” each of the climbers who helped him.

“When the dog came down with us, he went to each one of us as if to say thank you—he was almost crying,” Koraki said.

The hikers then returned him to his owner, who was overjoyed. As soon as he got home, the dog calmly sat on the couch after his ordeal.

The rescue team joked that although his owner calls him Asproulis (“the little white one”), they nicknamed him “Lucky” because he ultimately survived the ordeal.

His owner explained that the dog had never left the village before but followed a group of French ski mountaineers who had stayed at his café. At some point, he likely became frightened by the steep terrain and cliffs and could not find his way back.

“The distance from here to where he was found is about 3.5 hours on foot,” the owner said. “The highest peak there reaches about 2,200 meters, and behind it there is a cliff. He must have been scared—he’s only nine months old.”

Despite the harsh conditions, the young dog’s adventure ended happily after the Greek hikers brought him back safe, though thinner.

“I treat him like my child and take great care of him,” his owner said.