Dogs take to the water to “rescue” their owners
Published: June 12, 2007
At an earlier lesson, Juba had no problem pulling her flailing owner from the May River.
But at her Friday afternoon lesson, the 15-month-old yellow Lab got a little distracted when she was supposed to be “saving” her owner, Chris Yeager, in a simulated rescue.
“Juba, come, or no more dog food,” Yeager yelled to convince her wayward savior to come get her.
The threat of kibble depravation eventually worked, as Juba and her classmates took turns retrieving toys and people from the water near a boat landing in Bluffton.
The pooches and their owners were in the second week of a summer-long class called Beginner Water Dog Rescue Training run by Abby Bird, owner of AlphaDog Training Academy.
“It’s such a shame that people don’t do more with their dogs in the water,” Bird said.
Most owners seem content to just have their water-loving dogs, like labs and retrievers, fetch toys from the drink, but the dogs really enjoy working with people in the water, too, Bird said.
“It actually gives them pleasure to go save you, or to go get something,” Bird told the class. “Or just to have something to do.”
Susan Reynolds’ 2-year-old yellow Lab, Wrigley, has the retrieving part down. He’ll bring just about anything out of the water, from his own toys to floating beer can holders, said Reynolds, a Bluffton resident.
But Wrigley seems excited to be taking his love of the water to the next level.
“When I put my bathing suit on and get his leash out, he goes nuts,” Reynolds said.
The classes are also therapy and low-impact exercise for Wrigley, who suffers from hip dysplasia, which causes joint inflammation.
Although the dogs can go through increasingly complex levels of the class and eventually earn a water rescue certification, most of Bird’s students are in it for fun, exercise and to learn new skills, not become professional lifesavers.
Pal, a 4-year-old border collie mix, was a little out of his element; he was a herding dog among swimmers.
Pal wasn’t the most efficient dog in pulling people to shore and sometimes seemed hesitant to swim too far into the river, but that didn’t worry owner John Cullinen of Bluffton.
“He has a lot of energy,” Cullinen said. “That’s why we’re here really, mostly for the exercise.”
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