When they arrived, there was Sam — at the bottom of the well. Crews were doing work in the yard to fix a line and the well was open. The dog, firefighters said, made his way to the opening and fell in.

The homeowner dropped a ladder down the well, which had standing water at the bottom. Sam, the 11-year-old dog, was “able to wedge himself between the wall and ladder,” according to the Prince Frederick Volunteer Fire Department.

“He managed to hold himself up on the ladder and the side of the wall and stay out of the water,” Deputy Chief Jason Sharpe said.

Firefighters set up a rope system and a rescuer went down into the well. He got the dog out, holding him in his arms as other rescuers raised them back up. No one was injured and Sam was due to visit a veterinarian Wednesday for a checkup, according to firefighters.

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Sam was in the well for about 30 minutes, officials said.

“Very rarely do we get calls like this,” Sharpe said on Wednesday as he retold the incident. And Sam is “very, very lucky.”

“He fell 40 feet and was okay,” Sharpe said. “It could have been worse.”

On Facebook, Susan Suter Stevens, who said Sam belonged to her family, wrote a thank you to the volunteer fire department.