‘Our furry guardian angel’: Hero dog appears out of nowhere to supervise a pair of anxious hikers

You’ve heard of the cat distribution system, but what is the canine equivalent of that? Dogs don’t exactly find their new owners themselves, but they certainly show up when people need them most. Maybe not for keeps, but definitely until their mission is complete.

Erica and her friend were on the receiving end of this when they pulled into a parking lot for a hike and were greeted by a new furry friend, which they documented in their TikTok.

The moment they rolled down their window, the puppy jumped up, leaving the duo wondering where he came from and if he had a home to return to. They looked around, determined to help him, but there was not an owner in sight.

Turns out this wasn’t the first time he’d wandered from home to bless some lost souls. When they checked his collar they found out that his name is Roscoe, and according to his tag, which read “I will go home, leave me,” he’s known for taking a bit of a trip all by his lonesome.

Erica decided to let their temporary furry companion join them for their hike. And even though they were nervous to head up a new path all on their own, Roscoe led the way, smiling and wagging his tail the entire time.

And when they finished Roscoe did just what his tag said he would and headed home to be someone else’s guardian angel another day.

Viewers immediately fell in love with Roscoe, just like the girls did, and had lots of suggestions, comments, and compliments for their sweet new furry friend. One person suggested that Roscoe’s owners put an email address on his tag so that people can document all of the adventures he goes on while he’s away from home. Another said they should do a QR code so that people can upload pictures and stories.

Some people are pretty jealous of Roscoe’s day job. Seriously, he leaves home every day to make new friends and go on exciting adventures, and then returns home to be loved on and taken care of. Sounds pretty ideal to me.

According to The New York Times, dogs like Roscoe rely on a few things to find their way back home after a long day of adventuring. The biggest part of it is their supersonic sense of smell. Dogs can navigate back to their family from miles away by picking up on familiar scents and following their noses all the way home. It’s theorized that dogs can make a map of scents. They are especially sensitive to their owners’ scents which activates a portion of the brain that expects a reward.

Another thing that helps to guide their way is magnetic orientation. Studies show that they have a preference to poop at a north-south orientation, meaning they have a pretty strong sense of cardinal direction.

So dogs like Roscoe can find their way home from dozens of miles away. And odds are, Roscoe’s brain is finely tuned to his humans’s scents, especially because he probably gets a big reward every time he comes home.