Firefighter rescues dog from icy pond

[accadacca]

Awesome story.

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LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- A Colorado man's dog is alive thanks to a firefighter who pulled the dog out of an icy pond on Tuesday.

Max is an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff, a breed known as a hunting dog.

Max's owner says he was doing his business off-leash on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m. when he spotted a coyote running out of a bush.



Max is an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff, a breed known as a hunting dog.

Max took off and chased the coyote on to the ice of Lakewood's Smith Reservoir.
Max spent 20 minutes in the freezing water before firefighters with the West Metro Fire Department arrived.

Firefighter Tyler Sugaski put on his wetsuit and went out as far as he could to get Max.

When Sugaski fell through into the water, he broke the ice with his arms to get closer to the dog.

"The dog recognized right off that I was there to help, so he came towards me," Sugaski recalled.

Sugaski helped Max along as much as he could, and when Max was on thicker ice he made a run towards land where he was met by his owner, Michael Robinson.

"He's just a rock solid dog," Robinson said.

When firefighters got a hold of Max, they warmed him up in an ambulance.

As any dog owner can imagine, the moments were terrifying for Robinson.

"I just kept yelling at him, 'Come on boy,' and kept whistling. It was like a lap pool. He just kept swimming circles," Robinson said.

Robinson contemplated running after Max, but he tested the ice first.

"I start heaving the boulder hoping the ice is thick enough to hold me, but it didn't. It broke through," Robinson said.



Max has a few scrapes from the ice, but is doing just fine now.

"He's our family member, he's like a son in a sense. I thank everyone involved for responding, for showing up, for being there," Robinson said.

Sugaski, who owns two dogs himself, says he's a big dog lover who also loves his job.

Those two combined to make a textbook rescue.

"Glad he can be back with his owner, and he's happy and will live to walk around the lake more, hopefully on a leash in the future," Sugaski said while laughing.

Firefighters were never able to locate the coyote Max was chasing after.



Source: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=711&sid=1916...&s_cid=queue-1

[accadacca]

Looks like @Deathcricket's dog.

[Deathcricket]

Looks like @Deathcricket's dog.

Looks exactly like my dog! I got him from the pound so he might be, but his nose isn't pure black, and dogos are 80-120lbs, mine is maxxed at 80. There is a fascinating video about Dogo Argentino's on national geographic. Check it out, they are amazing dogs!

[bbennett]

"A Colorado man's dog is alive thanks to a firefighter who pulled the dog out of an icy pond on Tuesday, but may be put down after biting a news anchor on a live interview."

[blueeyes]

If all is well after 10 days, Max could be released to Robinson, who was cited today for having the dog off leash and for lack of rabies inoculation, Kelly said.

I get the citing for lack of rabies inoculation but for crying out loud the dog was indoors with his owner sitting right next to him. What good would a leash have done in this instance anyway. You DON'T ever stick your face next to a dogs face that you don't know. I hope after the quarantine the dog is returned to his owner and they are left in peace.

Read more: After dog bite, TV news anchor undergoes reconstructive lip surgery - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingne...#ixzz1lrCsKB2o
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

[bigred72]

I don't care how much a dog lets you pet it, you don't put your face 2 inches in front of it.

[Deathcricket]

"A Colorado man's dog is alive thanks to a firefighter who pulled the dog out of an icy pond on Tuesday, but may be put down after biting a news anchor on a live interview."

Holy schneikies! Did you see how it didn't even hesitate the very second it was challenged? Amazing video.

I don't care how much a dog legs you pet it, you don't put your face 2 inches in front of it.

Yeah I do agree to a certain extent, looking a dog directly in the eyes and putting your face above and moving into it is a direct challenge. Most people don't understand this and the reporter is an idiot for doing this, I bet she thought she was giving it a friendly kiss or something, stupid. but most people relate differently to dogs, although foolish is understandable to me. And honestly, I don't see any aggression in the dogs stance that indicates he was upset or any warnings that he wasn't completely enjoying her affections.

But I really really have to harp on the owner. He obviously has raised a dog he can't control and hasn't gotten it to submit to humans. That dog clearly thinks it's the boss and didn't hesitate to put the reporter in her place, that's what dogs do. Further, I suspect the fact that it got away and got stuck on the ice in the first place, suggests the guy really doesn't have control over his dog. Some people just need to own small dogs and ANY powerful breed can quickly take over if you are a weak person. So I would fault the owner before the dog in this situation. If he had trained it and been the dog's leader, this would not have happened.