A pet owner who came home to find her precious pooch dangling precariously from a hole desperately tried to prop him up, while she waited for help to arrive.
The owner found her dog Tiny stuck with his head through a hole at the top of his kennel, which was made out of a 1000L plastic tank, police said in a bulletin.
Tiny was scrambling to prop himself up, with his feet "only just touching the ground".
The dog's owner was understandably terrified, and climbed inside to hold him up, but then found she could not safely let go of Tiny to get help.
She tried yelling for help, but after nobody came, she managed to dial 111.
Police arriving at the Manukau South house found tools in a nearby garden shed, and cut Tiny out of the container.
"FENZ arrived shortly after and assisted cutting off the remaining piece from around his neck," police said.
Sergeant Phill Moody said the situation Tiny found himself in was "ruff", but everyone was pleased it had a happy ending.
"Tiny was thankfully unharmed and happy to be free. He gave the staff plenty of licks and cuddles to say thank you."
