A MUST READ story. Over the holidays I saw Skylars brother, Koda, at the dog park. Kodas owner, Mauricio, was telling me how he got the scare of his life with Koda. I am going to share this story with you all in hopes that it might save another Snow Dog from a similar fate. Maurico lives in a community that has natural wet land areas. He walks Koda religiously every single day. Koda is now 9 months old and weighs near 100 pounds and Koda sports a very dense winter heavy coat. A few weeks ago, Mauricio, feeling very confident about Kodas off leash recall and obedience skills, allows Koda to walk off leash. Afterall, this area is not near busy roads, Koda has been taught obedience skills, and Koda has always recalled without incident so he assumed that it was safe to allow Koda to walk off leash. On this particular day, an off leash Koda, spotted a rabbit and like any dog with a high prey drive, he ran after it. Needless to say, Koda ignored Mauricos instructions to return. Mauricio watched helplessly just as Koda kept chasing the rabbit. Then in an attempt to escape the Malamute, the rabbit ran across the frozen pond surface. Koda followed .... and then it happened. The ice at the center of the large pond gave way under the weight of the large Malamute. Koda fellthrough the ice and into the ice cold water. He began thrashing and flailing around. His heavy wet coat acted like a water logged sponge and kept pulling Koda back down into the icy water. Maurico tried to reach Koda to help pull him out of the water but he heard the ice cracking under his own weight and he had to retreat back to the edge of the water. Maurico could only watch as Koda frantically struggled to get out of the water. Several minutes of struggling in the ice cold water was starting to take its toll on Koda. Pretty soon hypothermia was going to become a very great reality for for this young Malamute and he might easily get pulled under one last time and drown. Luckily for Maurico, his neighbourhood is quite new and many areas are still under construction. He spotted some workers nearby and ran to get help. He was able to procure a long extension ladder that he allowed him distribute his weight evenly across the ice surface. He was able to crawl out to where Koda had fallen through the ice and attach his leash to him. It took the strength of three men to finally pull this very heavy wet soggy dog out of the freezing water. If it not for those construction workers working nearby, Mauricio would have surely lost Koda to the icy water that day. I lecture people ad infinitum about how it only takes that ONE TIME for something to happen when your dog is off leash in an unsecured area. My warnings are very often brushed off with remarks about how their dog ALWAYS comes back when recalled. Koda had always come back too ... right up to this day when he blew off recall and then very nearly drowned. Is allowing your dog off leash in an unsecured area really worth tempting fate? Maurico said that he will NEVER allow Koda off leash every again unless it is in the fully fenced dog park. He is just grateful to have gotten his dog back. A word of caution about Snow Dogs in full winter coats, ice on lakes and ponds, and icy cold water temperatures. Do not assume that even if your Snow Dog swims in the summer time (sans heavy winter undercoat) that he will be able to swim in his heavy winter coat. That woolly undercoat holds water like a sponge making the dog very heavy. Between the extra weight of the water on his coat, the icy cold temperatures of the water, plus the slippery surface of ice, your dog may not be able to pull himself out of the water. Dont chance it. Please keep your Snow Dog safe. Stay away from the waters edge and please.... keep your precious Fur Pal on leash when taking him for a walk.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 14:35:54 +0000