Entire Dog Blog

A one-year-old chocolate Cocker Spaniel named Bubba recently saved an "8 or 9-year-old" Black Labrador named Deuce when Deuce fell through some thin ice in Port Smith (Ohio).

Don Bennett says his dog Bubba barked and ran back and forth between an icy ditch and the back door of his daughter Kim Fleenor's house after seeing Fleenor's Black Labrador Deuce fall through the ice and become stuck. Duece's front paws were above the ice, but his hind quarters had fallen through into 6 to 8 feet of water. Deuce could not free himself.

Bennett often took 1-year-old Bubba over to daughter Kim Fleenor's...house for visits. So sending Bubba and Deuce, his daughter's dog, outside to play had become routine.

They were alarmed when Bubba, who had been running back and forth along a ditch behind the house and barking, planted himself outside the door while they were eating dinner.

"He was raising hell out there, barking and scratching," Bennett said. "We thought he just really wanted to come in."

When Fleenor's husband, 45-year-old Gary, opened the door, Bubba began running toward the ditch.

"He looked back at me like, 'Come on. Hurry up,' " he said.

Gary and his brother were able to free Deuce by breaking the ice with a ladder and pulling him to safety. Deuce does not seem to have any lasting injuries from the incident.

The Fleenors took Deuce and Bubba inside, where they played together. Despite being twice Bubba's size and at least seven years his senior, Deuce allowed Bubba to chew on him before they fell asleep, the Fleenors said.

"They love each other," Kim Fleenor said.