Dogs often love exploring the water, but sometimes they can get into difficulties. 18-month-old Border Collie Mono was running with his dog mom, Laura Jones, on Sept. 1 when he got distracted by some ducks in the river and decided to jump in.
The pair were running near the English Bridge, which goes over the River Severn in the British town of Shrewsbury, when Mono dived in.
However, he struggled to get back out of the river – where there’s a significant concrete drop.
Chasing Ducks
Dog mom Laura, who runs cleaning company Harmony Domestic, explained, “We ran from home across the Quarry, towards the weir. It’s our usual route. He saw the ducks and he ‘gracefully’ went after them. Where he fell in is a big concrete drop down. There was no way he was getting around, he was scrabbling at the concrete.
“I was laying flat on my stomach on the edge trying to reach down and grab him but I couldn’t.”
Laura explained that she was scared her pup was going to die while he was in the river. “His little face – he looked like a drowned rat. He submerged a couple of times under the water and his little face looking at me was sheer panic,” she said.
Rescued by Teenagers
However, a group of teenagers appeared to save the day. One of them, Harry, was able to get hold of Mono and pull him back up to safety – when the Border Collie duly thanked the four teens by shaking water all over them.
“He’s a fantastic dog, he comes running with me, his recall is brilliant and he stays close by,” Laura said, “He’s never had an issue with water … he’s always paddling. We’ve had him since he was a puppy and he’s given us a ride! He has 21 different allergies, he keeps us on our toes.”
Mono doesn’t seem to have been too affected by the experience, but Laura did say that she’s not taken him near water since the incident. She hopes to get back in touch with the group of teenagers too, to thank them.