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An 81-year-old man is crediting his Lhasa Apso with saving his life after he fell from a ridge into a deep pool of mud and clung to a bridge rail to keep from sinking as his dog ran for help.

Derek Ramsden was on vacation in Wales and taking his dogs for a walk when he fell.

He says his 18-year-old terrier mix took no action, but his seven-year-old Lhasa Apso, Toby, ran for a quarter of a mile and, just like Lassie, barked at park officials until they followed him back to the scene.

“I managed to get hold of a railing on the bridge. It was frightening. I could not get out and you can’t hold your grip for long at my age,” he told The Telegraph. “I was scared that I was going to tumble down the bank. I don’t like to think what would have happened if not for Toby. He definitely saved my life.”

“Toby is dedicated to both of us and I think he is a hero,” said Ramsden, from Halifax, West Yorks. “He’s my very own Lassie. He saved my life and I’m very grateful.”

Ramsden’s wife, Ada, who had not gone along for the walk at Bryowen Holiday Park, said she went searching for him after an hour and found him as he was being pulled to safety by park staff.

“He was covered in mud from head to foot. If he had let go he could have slipped down further. Toby saved him,” she said.

“The dog knew what it was doing. It ran past apartments through bushes and alerted security,” said park maintenance manager Ben Thompson. “The dog was leading the way and without the dog we would not have known he was there. That dog certainly has something about it.”

(Photo: Ross Parry / The Telegraph)

Toby, an autistic girl’s dog that was reported stolen last week, was found dead Sunday night.

The body of the dog – trained to help Kelly Noland’s daughter, Alle, 9, stay safe — was dumped in the family’s yard in Moncks Corner, S.C.

“They killed our dog and dropped it off in our yard,” Kelly Noland told the Charleston Post and Courier. “He had been hit in the face with a bat. He was still warm.”

Toby, a 3-year-old black and white American bull terrier, was taken from the family’s front yard last Tuesday.

Neighborhood children waiting for the morning school bus said they saw a blond woman in a black Dodge stop, snatch the dog and drive off, according to a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office report.

“It’s just been a nightmare. Devastating, heartbreaking,” Noland said. “We want to know why someone would target our animal and target our family and be so heartless.”

The family got Toby as a puppy. He wasn’t professionally trained to be a service dog for Alle — the family says it can’t afford one of those — but he watched after her and made sure she stayed safe, the family said.

Noland thanked those who helped look for the dog, and those who have helped since his death, including a local crematory that offered its services for free.

Noland said the family has no plans to get another dog in the near future. “It’s just too much heartache,” she said.

(Top photo: Kelly Noland holds Toby’s collar as she sits with daughter, Alle; by Grace Beahm / Charleston Post and Courier)

Some very Grinch-like behavior in Moncks Corner, S.C.: An autistic girl’s special needs dog was stolen from her family’s front yard.

Toby, described as an American bull terrier, was taken from the yard and loaded into a black Dodge Charger by a woman with blonde hair, witnesses told police.

“We can’t sleep, we can’t eat and we can’t go on until he comes home,” Kelly Noland told WCSC (Live 5) News. “It’s like having our own child gone.”

The dog has been in the family for years, and though not professionally trained as a service dog, helps Noland’s 9-year-old daughter Alle, who has autism.

“She has been extra upset, you can tell, she brings us his picture,” Noland said.

Alle’s vocabulary is limited, Noland said, and Toby lets the family know when she is upset or in danger.

“When we’re outside playing he makes sure she’s safe at all times,” Noland said. “If she has a certain cry he can tell the difference in her cries. He can tell if something bothering her.”

Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies are investigating, and the Nolands are offering a reward to anyone who returns him.

Toby was last seen wearing a spiked leather collar with the Noland’s address and phone number on it. Anyone with information is asked to call the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department at 843-826-2920.

(Click picture for the video.)

The head of the Maryland Transit Authority’s police force went above and beyond the call of duty over the weekend when — in the midst of plenty of other snow-related challenges — he took the time to rescue a lost dog.

Colonel John Gavrilis, lured the dog over to his vehicle after spotting him along Moravia Road near I-895 in Baltimore.

The dog, it turned out, had run off during a walk with his owner in Patterson Park on Saturday.

“The dog was just in the middle of the street, so I got a ham sandwich out that I had packed with me and I lured him into my car,” said Gavrilis.

Shortly after that, Gavrilis spotted a WJZ news crew on Boston Street — and got the dog some airtime.

Jason Grady, meanwhile, the owner of the dog, named Toby, had put a  photo and notice of the missing dog on Craigslist.

Once the three-year-old hound turned up on the news, emails and phone calls started pouring in — to WJZ and at Grady’s home in Bolton Hill.

Grady had this message for Gavrilis, upon the return of his dog:

“Thank you Colonel … sorry about your sandwich …”

After Dennis Bullaro, 65, and his mother, Marie, 90, finished a roast dinner a few months ago, they tossed the round bone that remained to Toby, their one-year-old “cockalier” (cocker spaniel, Cavalier King Charles spaniel mix).

For two months, Toby treasured the bone, flinging it in the air and catching it, dropping it on the ground and rolling over it to scratch his back. But then one day the fun stopped.

Somehow, Toby managed to get the bone stuck around his front teeth and lower jaw, covering his snout and forcing a trip to an Omaha, Nebraska emergency veterinary clinic, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

At the Omaha Animal Emergency Clinic, the veterinarian had to anesthetize Toby and use a hacksaw to cut and  remove the bone.

Of more than 75,000 claims reviewed in May by the Veterinary Pet Insurance Company, Toby’s was chosen as the most interesting, putting Toby in the running for the Hambone Award, to be bestowed in September after online voting.

The company says most of the 1 million claims it handles each year are for common pet conditions or routine care. But, a company spokesman said sometimes claim comes up that reminds everyone just how unexpected and sometimes, in retrospect, even funny, pet accidents can be.

The award name was inspired by the case of a dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while waiting to be let out.

The winning pet and owner receives a trophy in the shape of a ham.

The insurance company suggests that pet owners refrain from giving their pets leftover bones.