Border Collie Rescued After Spending 6 Days Stuck Inside Pipe Under Long Island Golf Course

MOUNT SINAI, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A border collie is back to work on a Long Island golf course after being trapped in an underground pipe for nearly a week.

Veterinarians and first responders say they're amazed he's in such good shape.

"This dog from this point here fell 17 feet inside this dark tunnel," Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan. "Amazing how he didn't break any bones. Just the fall alone could have killed him."

The collie, known as JB -- named after James Brown's "I Feel Good" song -- went missing following a romp on the Willow Creek Golf Course in Mount Sinai, where he protects the fairways and greens from goose droppings.

"I was so sad the whole week. Everyone that works on the golf course, we spend time with this dog all day," Willow Creek Golf Club foreman and JB's master Bobby Spiliotis said. "He's another worker. He's like another one of us."

As they searched night and day, no one suspected JB had squeezed into an 18 inch round pipe, which is now protected by steel safety rods.

As a golf course geese chaser, JB is trained not to bark. Even his mournful whimper was subdued.

By the sixth day, things had turned desperate, but there was just enough rain water to keep JB alive.

When a club member in a wayward golf cart thought he heard a child crying underground.

"I saw it like a miner trapped in a mine," Gross said.

The community hadn't given up hope, and volunteers raced in with backhoes and digging equipment, praying the pipes wouldn't collapse. Oxygen was even sent down during the intense rescue.

"I could see the emotion. When they were in here, we all felt it," Gross said. "Your viewers have to understand to make the call if you suspect an animal in distress."

JB lost four pounds but none of his love for life.