Doggone it: Eddie the Jack Russell is saved by truck driver owner after 19 HOURS trapped underground

This is the heart-warming moment when Eddie the Jack Russell was saved, after 19 hours of being trapped underground.

The one-and-a-half year-old had come loose from his lead, scurried underneath a fence and accidentally fell into a nearby irrigation distribution box, before squeezing into a narrow steel pipe under the asphalt.

Owner Glen Farrell, a truck driver, thought that he had lost his best friend when he returned to the yard in Boise, Idaho, but when he heard barking underneath where he was standing, he and his colleagues quickly set about saving the dog.

Scroll down to see a video of the waggy dog tale

Happy ending: Eddie the Jack Russell sticks his nose out of the steel pipe, where he was stuck for hours

Dig for victory: Eddie's owner and his friends dig into the asphalt and dirt to save the dog

Half a dozen men sprung into action and used their diggers and heavy duty equipment to left the earth and cut Eddie out - he had scrambled 30ft up the pipe from its entrance, and could not backtrack.

But as Eddie has wiggled his way up the pipe, he was only a matter of feet under the ground and owner Farrell, who had left Eddie tied in the yard before he went on his job the day before, told KTVB.com: 'I could see him down in there, way down in there.'

An anxious dig, though the asphalt, dirt and, after cutting the steel pipe, Eddie excitedly popped his nose out and saw daylight for the first time in 19 hours.

Heave! Farrell's pals lend a hand in saving one-and-a-half year-old Eddie

Daylight! The Jack Russell squeezes hi nose out of the steel pipe as his owner Glen Farrell cuts the metal

Mucky pup: The rescuers look on as Farrell pulls his dog free from the ground

Shortly afterwards the rest of the dog emerged, and he jumped into Farrell's arms.

'He's shaking a little bit,' said the relieved owner, looking at his shivering black-and-white dog caked in mud.

'He just wants to go home now, and have a bath and sit by the fire, probably. You hear these stories, and you think, well, you know... but here we are. We're one of them now.'

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Farrell said that Eddie is always getting into scrapes, but this was the first - and hopefully last - time he has managed to do something like this.

Freed: Eddie jumps out of the hole that has been dig to save him - and after 19 hours underground, boy is he happy

Happy dog: Eddie is delighted to be free - and can't wait for a hot bath and to lie by a roaring fire