( CNN ) -- You do n't find too many happy stories in the aftermath of a tornado , but Spc . Jacob Montgomery is telling one . He was one of many Midwesterners holding on for dear life this month as a spate of deadly tornadoes rumbled through . Hundreds of families had their lives altered when 76 reported tornadoes hit . At least eight people lost their lives . How to help : Tornadoes tear across Midwest . Montgomery 's apartment in Washington , Illinois , was turned to rubble on November 17 . And to make matters worse , he could not find his pitbull puppy , Dexter . His training helped him deal with a lot of things , he said , but not that . `` As a National Guardsman , you train to respond to emergencies all the time , but I never really had it happen to me , '' said Montgomery , who has been a military police officer with the Illinois Army National Guard for more than five years . For days , he scoured the wreckage looking for Dexter , unsuccessfully . Then he got a phone call from his neighbor Tuesday . A rescue group had found Dexter buried under a pile of rubble near Montgomery 's apartment , the neighbor told him . They coaxed him out of the mess using hot dogs . `` I am lucky . All I had in my apartment is gone , but my dog was all I really had to worry about , '' Montgomery said . Montgomery is living at a friend 's house while he looks for a new place to stay . But at least he has Dexter . Midwesterners try to recover after string of deadly tornadoes . Oklahoma woman finds dog , wedding ring amid tornado rubble .
A series of tornadoes hit Midwest on November 17 . His town of Washington , Illinois , was badly hit . He said he saw a tornado that killed his brother and sister in the same spot where they were standing when it struck.