Would you have jumped in?

Yesterday i was with my brother with Louby and his dog Bella, we were walking on the river wharf, its a lovely stretch where the 2 dogs can run for ages off lead with only the occasional dog walker coming along where i have to put Louby back on the lead.
Anyway there are little areas where the dogs can go down to the river, and have a paddle, neither of them get in and swim. yesterday the river was quite swollen and fast moving so we just let them have a little paddle but didnt try to encourage them to get in further by throwing sticks. Bella was having a little drink when all of a sudden her front submerged in the water, only her tail was sticking out fo the water, but my brother didnt try to get her out, i shouted for him to help her as i was up the top of the banking, but he said he couldnt as he wouldnt get out. Eventually she manahed to right her self and get out, but it was scary for a few seconds.
If i had been down there and it was Louby (or even Bella), i would have been in there.
My brother is into fishing so he knows the water more than me and he said he would have been swept away and it was deeper than i thought. So he was being sensible even though it would have broke his heart to have lost Bella. he has a daughter, step daugher and twins on the way.

I would have been that person on the news, drowned saving her dog, but the dog got out anyway!!!

What would you do?

I wouldnt have even thought about it, I would have been in the water. Theres no way i could stand and watch the water take my pooch away.

Im glad Bella is ok, it must have been a scary few moments for you both ><

I have had chats with my dog when the river was frozen over it went like this:

'listen don't go in because I won't come in after you okay!'

Of course I'd have gone in although I also know its a silly thing to do. I couldn't just watch something terrible happen.

it was awful - our hearts were in our mouths. The thought of going home with just her lead...doesnt bare thinking about.

Bella was absolutely fine when she came out, didnt seem to phase her at all, just carried on jumping all over Louby x

I can't swim, so there'd be no use in me going in . Must have been very scary glad she got out OK.

My brother only found out last week that they were pregnant with twins. And i think that his instincts told him not to go in. I think if it had been any other time, say a few weeks ago, he would have gone after her.

I would have been in without a second thought... I couldn't just stand by...
So glad it was all okay though, dread to think what must have been going through your mind!

I'm afraid I'd be like you too, I'd have been in there & probably be the person on the news too

I would go in without a second thought

I totally would hvvae done - i dont think badly of my brother for not going in though, he knew the river was swollen and was fast moving, he definately thought with his head and not his heart.
I dread to think what could have happened if he had gone in, i could be having a different conversation today.

There have been quite a few incidents of people getting into serious trouble or worse jumping in to save their dog , or indeed somebody elses. Your brother did do the sensible thing but not sure that I could have stopped and thought about it and yes could just end up being an item on the evening news

Fortunately my 2 tend to stear clear of the water , though letely Tommy has been dancing about on the clumps of grass alongside the canal, we always walk him with a harness and collar and since he has been a little bugger lately I normally have him on his long training line , so at least if he did get into trouble I could drag him straight out without putting myself in danger , maybe something to think about for people that do venture near dangerous waters , far safer option and if your dogs love the water then a doggy flotation aid is aleways a bit more peace of mind

I didn't even know you could get a doggy flotation aid! All this has definitely got me thinking as Moll has just learnt to swim

Ooo I know that feelin. Makes u feel like a rock in the bottom of ur stomach.

When my girl Diesel was a pup - we were out walking - she had never been in water before..anyway, she saw a dike with water in it - and slipped the collar and jumped in. This was a 4ft drop to the water, which was stagnant.
I screamed to hubby 'get in there and grab her' Diesel was panicing and trying to swim, hubby held onto a tree and went down about 3ft, grabbed her scruff which gave her enough umph to get out.

She flippin stank. She was covered in god knows what !

If I'd been on my own I would have got her out. U gotta do what u gotta do.

My last wee dog fell into a fast river and I jumped in after her. In hindsight it was a very stupid thing to do, but she was safe anyway.

No brainer for me I would have been straight in and if it had taken us both then at least we would have gone together

cesca1 wrote:I didn't even know you could get a doggy flotation aid! All this has definitely got me thinking as Moll has just learnt to swim

Just as an example but there are loads about

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EZYDOG-SEADOG-FLOTATION-DEVICE-dog-life-floatation-jacket-bouyancy-aid-vest-/400408984831

with out a thought,yes i would send my hubby in

Would've definitely been straight in, I couldn't bare the thought of losing her and I'd feel guilty forever if I hadn't of at least tried! Some men threw a bag of something into a big lake thing when I was at the park with my uncle before and it was moving, wasnt sure if anything was alive but he jumped over the rails and grabbed the bag and it had about 7 puppies in it they all got rehomed apart from one, but it's a lot better than none of them getting homes. I'm very glad Louby was okay though! Good job she's a strong little girl

Its difficult to say really, if she was still in the same spot i would jump in yes, but do it safely by holding on to something or looping my lead around something, but if she fell in and was being swept away i would know that i could do nothing so i would be running along the bank screaming and crying like a crazy lady until she came to a stop or was able to catch herself on something. I think dogs are better swimmers than us, and more likely to get out of the water.

Thank heavens all the dogs mentioned above are OK now.

I am also sorry to say that if, God forbid, Kuchar got into water and was in trouble I'd do my utmost to save him, and as I am not in my first flush of youth that would probably be a very stupid thing for me to do, but to me it would like be standing by and watching my child drowning and I just couldn't do that.

I would like to say "Yeah I would be straight in there" But it happened to me at the river and i didn't jump in after her, and she got out of it just fine.. I think if I thought she would really in danger I may have jumped in but I knew she would work it out for herself

I would jump in without a second thought for my two! Theres been a few times when Diesel was on the canal bank that I thought I was goin to have to!

I go fishing alot and my dog fell in the canal and she is a very weak swimmer of course you jump in i would rather try to save my dog than not losing a dog is like losing a child to me i would do it everytime if i had too

Cue Baywatch theme and pass me a red swimsuit!
Not a second thought about it. That said, I'm a (former) volunteer surf lifesaver.

my biggest fear during the winter when we walk by the river is that romeo strays too cloce and goes through some ice, there would be nothing i'd be able to do since he'd be swept away.
it happened to a woman last year that she imported a puppy from the uk here to finland and it fell through the sea ice and drowned. it trully is a scary thing, but i think i wouldnt be able to stop myself from going after them

Yes Taryn, ice on the water is the worst scenario.

At the risk of repeating myself cos I've told this story before, I knew someone whose beloved dog went through the ice on a canal and he went in to try to save it. He ended up in hospital with hypothermia and the dog drowned, it was terrible. It must be awful to stand there and balance the risks to oneself and one's dog, in the panic of the moment it can't always be done though.