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When Daniel Ellis returned to his Suitland home Friday afternoon, his dog was, at first, nowhere to be found.

But after looking around his yard, Ellis said he could hear his whimpers from Kujo, his 3-year-old presa canario, and discovered the dog had fallen down an abandoned well in the backyard.

Ellis, who has lived in the house along the 3400 block of Glenn Drive since 2000, said he wasn't aware there was a well beneath his deck. A piece of plywood had previously covered the well, but years of dry rot caused the board to collapse under the weight of the 120-pound dog, he said.

After Friday's rescue was covered by a television station in Washington, D.C., NBC's "Today" show contacted Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department, and he arranged for Tuesday's national interview.

On Tuesday morning, Ellis, Kujo and county firefighter Travis Lambert, who had rescued the dog, were interviewed by the show's Meredith Vieira.

While the television exposure was nerve-racking for both men, Ellis said the experience was also stressful for Kujo, who is still recovering from his fall down the 55-foot well.

Kujo received only minor injuries from his fall, including lacerations above his eyes and cuts and bruises along his legs and back.

Lambert escaped uninjured from his journey into the well Friday, in which he attached a safety harness to the dog.

"Seeing a dog that big in a hole that small was definitely one-of-a-kind," said Lambert, an 18-year-veteran of the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.

Lambert has served on the technical rescue team for 10 years, but said this was his first attempt at rescuing a dog.

The rescue took three hours as the department's team plotted the safest and quickest way to reach the dog and while the well began to fill up with water from oncoming storms.

"We didn't know the demeanor of the dog," said Lambert, of Crofton. "He's cold, he's injured and he doesn't know what's going on."

However, Kujo cooperated, and firefighters were able to pull Lambert and Kujo out of the narrow hole shortly after 5 p.m.

Ellis said the Kujo is still nursing his injuries, but he expects his pet to be back to his old self in no time.

"I was honestly surprised his injuries were so minor," Ellis said.

E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.