I took the dogs for a walk along the creek. On the way back, Bear went down to the water for a swim. There was decaying ice on the top. I couldn't stop him but I figured he was smart enough to keep out of trouble. Well, he didn't come back so I went to look. There he was with his head and front paws on the ice and his back parts in the frozen slushy water. He could not get a grip to come up. What to do? It was Saturday but I had seen a car by the silos. I ran and knocked on the door. The cleaning lady answered. I asked for some plywood or something to throw out to him. We ran around trying to find something. I thought Bear was already a goner. Finally I found a piece of wood with ridges on it and carried it back to the creek. I kept yelling, "Hang on, Bear! I'm coming."
Then I had to crawl through the snow down to the creek. I didn't see Bear where I had left him - just a hole in the ice. But then I saw he had swum down a little further but still couldn't get out. He was hanging on with his front paws looking at me. He never whimpered or cried or made any noise. I put the wood out to him but he was too weak to climb up. I had to grab his collar and pull him onto the wood. Fortunately he was pretty close to shore.
What a relief to have him on the shore! He was shaking with cold but pretty soon got his energy back and we went home. I gave him a bucket of warm water to drink and he is back to normal. I guess he must be like a polar bear, because he was in that freezing water for a good 20- 30 minutes and survived. But the amazing thing to me is that he never made any sound, just expected me to get him out. I'm so glad I could.
