The men bundled the animal in blankets and packed him into the car, rushing him to an animal clinic for medical care. But little did the heroes know — they weren’t technically saving a dog.

When the veterinarians took a look at the animal, they informed the men that they had actually saved a wild wolf.

Because the animal was so shocked by falling into the frozen waters, he had been much more docile than a wolf would typically be while wrapped up in the back seat of a car — which explains why the men thought he was just a large dog.

“He was calm,” Rando Kartsepp, one of the rescuers, told Postimees about the wolf. “He slept on my legs [in the car]. When I wanted to stretch them, he raised his head for a moment.”