Out for a walk at sunset with her owner Ebony Collins, Tilly the Jack Russel x Maltese was having the time of her life chasing the wonderful sounds and smells of the North-West Coast around the bushes atop the cliff.

But suddenly, she was gone, out of sight of Ms Collins and nowhere to be found.

Despite looking for nearly an hour, the 18-year-old could not find her furry little friend anywhere and began to fear the worst.

She ventured down to the base of the cliff and began looking among the rocks and the sand.

And then Ms Collins heard a yelp from above.

About five metres from the top of the cliff little Tilly was snagged; her collar had caught on a branch as she tumbled off the top of the 25m cliff while chasing some unknown doggy delight.

She was stuck, but she was relatively safe.

Not being a rock-climber or an abseiler, Ms Collins decided to ask for help to retrieve her pawed pal, and the Tasmania Fire Service were the ones to pick up the call.

Devonport fire station officer Justin Smith said he and his team responded to the community service call about 5.30pm.

"A dog owner had advised her dog had fallen off the edge of the Don Heads cliff face," Mr Smith said.

"We met her at the carpark. She was quite concerned at that time and she led us to the top of the cliff to the area where she last saw her dog."

Mr Smith said the bush atop the cliffs was quite thick, and it was unknown where the dog had fallen, so Ms Collins and a firefighter returned to the bottom of the cliff and shone a torch to Tilly's location, leading their clifftop counterparts.

From there, the team of rescuers, including two vertical rope specialists, were able to send one of their own down the cliff face and retrieve the dog.

"She's only small so she was placed in a backpack with her head out to be retrieved," Mr Smith said.

"When they brought her up they said she might need to go to a vet to get checked out," Ms Collins said.

"But she just started trotting around, smelling their feet. She seems fine."

Tilly's adventure turned an afternoon stroll into a five-hour ordeal, and Ms Collins said they will probably stick to Coles Beach in the future.