[cyclelops]

The cure for cold feet is ice water...you don't feel a thing...OK, OK settle down...I am not serious...but, my numb feet came in handy today. Who says PN has no good use....by God, it does!

I went to Wallymart with hubby this morning and he decided to meander home the long way, via the back country road....suddenly the car screaches to a halt, and he says, "Something is drowning in the ice over there...in that pond."

I say, 'what pond?"

He sees everything, which scares me, as I don't know how you can drive, and see something 500 yards off the road behind trees.

He does...he sees birds, foxes, coyotes, anything.....I am always, 'duh---where??'

So he turns the car around pulls into this driveway, and sure enough, a black lab mix is out in a hole in the ice in a pond on private property....nice house, nice outbuildings, very nice....but not for the dog. He or She (never looked down there to see)....was drowning, and had evidently by the appearance, been in there for a while.

It wasn't a human, and it wasn't in dire need or I would have taken the dunk....I am a very good swimmer, and somewhat familiar with this kind of thing....not equipped tho, and not feeling so hot lately....but we would not let anything die....fortunately it was not far from shore...the water was not deep, but none the less, cold, and had ice cover...sort of. We had a rope, so it was a matter of whom could best get whom out in a pinch.

OK, so we call 911..what else do you do? This week alone this is the 3rd animal thru ice rescue I know of.

I tell hubby to get this trellis off their lawn, and he also grabs a long sturdy leash, and we wait for rescue rangers to come....I tried flagging down folks, but, no one stopped which is sad, because, it could have been a child!!! Two people can not attempt a ice water rescue....just not enough help....unless it is dire stuff. Hubby is yelling at me, 'Don't you dare go in that water!!"

To me, doesn't matter, it is a sentient being, so, I don't let things die, unless, that is my duty, and that has been my job at times...I have done hospice work over the years...also done first responding...so I am no dummy when it comes to frozen ponds, and cold water, and no I am not dumb enough to go wading into unknown waters....with an ice cap over it without being firmly attached to a rope with a reasonably strong person to pull me out...preferably 3 or more. I like having spares.

Anyway, it is taking a long time for the rescue rangers to come and I can see dog is gonna go down....I am reasonably sure it is only 4-5 feet deep...and heck, my feet are numb...and I am up to my knees already...Hubby is saying, 'Don't you dare get in that water...any farther."

Well, hubby comes with trellis and cop arrives, and cop goes in about as far as me, little farther, and we surmise we can walk to it....by then I had my fleece unzipped from the inside of the jacket, the shell was on, but I figured, I am the smallest and easiest to get out of a mess....so I will go if need be, as two big guys are there to get me out...and I wanted dry clothes to get into after shedding wet ones, so I had my dry fleece over on the field...we had a rope to tie around whomever was going in...so....it is kinda like the 3 of us looking at who is dumb enough to do this....both men are of course, willing to go and really, in my mind, that seemed reasonable, NOW as there were two of them...however, I figured the trellis is most likely to support me from sinking in the darn mud, which was my concern...water wasn't that deep...but you can go down a few more feet in mud....and be over your head...the bigger you are the farther you sink, and the stronger the puller outers have to be. I am not a strong puller outer.

In the meantime, another 'local' stops, is in good cold weather gear, boots, thick over pants, and he runs over with a rope...He says he saw the cop, and our attempts....and simply, 'I love dogs, I raise coonhounds'.

As my daughter puts it, "I have been rescued by more local yokels'...They are kinda good at that type of thing in general...the fancy SUVs drove buy, but the yokel in the beater, stopped to help. They don't do a lot of analyzing, they just act, which is what I like about them. These country folk just do what they gotta do, and don't talk much about it or stick around for the press.

Anyway, I said, 'that dog has been in there for 20 minutes, it is going down'.....

Well, Mr. Coonhound, for lack of a better name, jumps in the drink, no questions asked, crashes thru the ice, gets about 8 feet into the water...I was in about 2 feet....he is up to his chest, and he grabs, Spot, by the scruff as he is going under, and drags this 70 some pound dog to the shore, upon which he staggers out of the mud and freezing water, and I drag wet dog a tad further and give doggy the fleece....doggie is so relieved, he likes us and is eternally grateful.

Mr. Coonhound just says, 'I love dogs'...I shook his hand and told him he was my hero...(and he was), and he hopped in his truck and left.... Next to hubby who spotted a drowning being in a pond so darn far from the road and hidden, who is really a hero too....albeit a bit more reasonable in his approach to plunging into cold icy water.

Doggy is exhausted and collapses in the swampy area which is still a good 6-12 inches deep with water....we get doggy up and put him/her in our warm car, and I had paper towels to dry him/her off....police man takes off to question neighbors as to whom doggie may belong or where the property owners are....

You gotta love rural living....the property owners and owners of 'said' dog are brunching down the road, so police man, who was wonderful and also very wet, takes mutt to the restuarant to find the dog's parents...

We came home and now I have to shower...again, as I smell like pond water and wet dog. Darn, and I already showered once today...I am conserving energy lately and once a day is extravagant energy usage for me...quite a few spoons.... (Perhaps that is why I have an opportunistic infection or two??) No really, it isn't THAT bad....my hygeine is reasonable...most days anyway.

Dog is safe....owners will be happy....Mr. Coonhound, Mr. Cop, and hubby are heroes. I am glad I didn't have to see how far up I am 'insensitive'...as that could be traumatic....

And I am eternally grateful to the guy in the red beater pickup with cab, in the heavy Carhart gear, who plunged head long into a pond, smashed thru ice and grabbed that dog. I hope he lived nearby and is warm and dry.

Hubby is pretty pleased with his top notch distance vision, and is saying what a great day he had!

The End.

[Silverlady]

Well,
I'm with you girl. I'd have been in that water irregardless. I could never stand by and watch an animal drown. I've pulled horses out of mud and pulled til my hands bled. A dog would have given me nightmares forever if I'd seen it die. Tell hubbie he is my hero and the guy in the red truck too. You......you know you're one of my heroes. I know if that truck hadn't stopped when it did, you'd have been in that water. I'm just glad you didn't have to learn how far up you were numb.
Billye

[darlindeb25]

I agree, all of you are the angels of the day. Good work!

[shiney sue]

If we had hero's of the day,you all should get it..But do the people
who own that poor dog, well I hope it was a accident
the dog got out,I hope they got it clean and warm. And don't say
that's what they got fur for,I will sent Billye after you,and we will
have another hero.lol Sue PS if that was the yellow dog,C would have
him under 7 blankets and her.

[cyclelops]

Sue

The biggest variable is that some one SAW that animal way out there....we didn't know if it was an animal or human. We saw a fairly larged size 'something' clinging to ice thru a hole. These people have 3 large ponds, small lakes, actually, this one was a good 100 by 500 feet in size. They have a beautiful set up, and a very nice kennel, indoor-outdoor and connected to a very nice outbuilding, and they had a new nice 20 foot leash tied to the patio door.

I think people forget that their dogs, cats, even horses, don't understand that ice is thin this time of year. I have a water feature, that is about 3 feet deep at most, but only 4 by 6, and not 3 feet deep anywhere but the center...it is melted pretty well now....but I worry about doggies out there, I watch. They are used to running over it as it has been frozen for 6 months. They could easily jump out, I am sure, but you just don't know. Our lakes are still frozen....expecting 2 inches of rain tomorrow and flooding.

If this WAS indeed their dog....it looked like they took good care of it, but they may have just not thought about it, or the dog is not a roamer....I don't know. I can't judge....stuff happens. Big thing is doggie is safe and I am sure the owners won't leave him/her unattended outside again.

Hubby has been walking around all day, remarking how 'good' his eyes are, LOL...and how NICE the dog was....he/she was so happy to see us and patient with us as we tried to ger he/she out. He/she was about 8 to 10 feet from shore, but we had no idea how deep the pond really was or how soft the bottom was....we figured she was standing, so it couldn't be real deep. But the guy who pulled her out was in chest deep...so pretty deep on me!

I wish Mr. Coonhound would have let us get the leash around him, just in case he slipped up and went under the ice cap, as some of it was quite thick...that dog walked over a lot of ice to fall in at the end he/she did. He just jumped right in when I said the dog was in there 20 minutes, and hit that ice as hard as he could to get to the dog and free it up, of course, when he hit the last piece the dog went under, but he had it.

Oh, if Yellow dog got into that kind of trouble, she would be under blankets..Yellow is a she....silver is a he, and chocolate is a he.....I have large lap dogs. I have Invisible Fencing around our acreage, and my dogs, are INDOOR dogs, much to my family's consternation...they spend time outdoors in nice weather, but they are not out there ever, unwatched. We have a nice set up out here....fieldstone fireplace is my favorite, in the winter...that and the view of the state park and acres and acres of fields and woods, especially now, because we can see foxes, coyotes, turkeys, sandhills, deer. Only thing is, our winter are so long and brutal.

Anyway, I would take that dog to the vet, as he/she was so cold, he/she wouldn't even shake the water off....hubby saw he/she in the nick of time. If that cop hadn't gotten there when he did, we would have had to go in and we were working on it....ropes, reinforcements etc....Labradors are cold water dogs, and can take it longer than a lot of dogs...Newfoundlands and Labs were actually used for water rescues at one time.

He/she was a mix, with longer fur, which may have helped him/her float and also to retain heat.

That was a very nice dog...got in our car, very nicely, let me dry he/she off....if animals can be grateful, this one certainly was. I am grateful I didn't have to test out my thermoregulatory function.

Once, I rescued a chicken stuck in cow dung up to its neck...long time ago, and that was an adventure too....it wasn't my cow dung...it was the farmer who rented the barn....dumb chicken. It seemed grateful too. I think animals comprehend a lot more than people give them credit for.

My rescue days are over....but that adrenaline kick will keep me going for a few days, LOL....hubby keeps telling me he isn't over the hill, because he has 'eagle eyes'.....he does. If not for him seeing that mutt, well, I prefer not to think about it...we had a happy ending....I will think about that. It is my upper for the day. I think it is too cold in that water and outside for me to have caught anythng else.... I hope.

[MelodyL]

Cyclelops:

This one is for you!!!! Way to go!!! You truly are a doggie's best friend (and so's your hubby)

[fanfaire]

I think all involved are AWESOME!

fanfaire

[glenntaj]

(And I probably would have done exactly the same thing--I've climbed a few trees in my time to get cats, scooped small dogs out of pools . . .just can't stand to see suffering animals. To h**l with the neuropathy.)

[Patricialyn]

Oh, thanks for sharing your story, I am happy you and dogie are both ok.

Patty

[BEGLET]

Kudos to you, hubby, and other helpers.... you saved a life! I'm an animal lover - all kinds - and theres one pup now who is a happy camper today thanks to your "gang"!...