Dog helps boy out of rain swollen river

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10359779

Published Tuesday June 17, 2008

BY CHELSEA KEENEY
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Tony Bailey has his very own Lassie.

The 12-year-old Omaha boy on Saturday afternoon took a step off the riverbank into the Platte River, yards from the family's cabin near North Bend, Neb.

The Platte, swollen by recent rains, was deeper and faster-moving than Tony was expecting. As soon as he hit the water, he was in literally over his head.

Tony's mother, Diane Bailey, estimated that the river was 7 to 8 feet deep at that point.

"Usually, when it's dry, it's up to your knees — or waist, at the highest," where Tony walked in, Bailey said Monday. "He's done it a thousand other times."


Tony Bailey, 12, and Jake, the 4-year-old Labrador retriever who kept Tony from being swept away in the Platte River.


Tony, who will be a seventh-grader at McMillan Magnet Center in the fall, tried to swim, but the current was too strong.

"I thought I was going to die because it was so deep," he said.

Bailey, her two other children, and her brother and sister all were sitting at a picnic table about 20 feet from the water. But as Tony yelled for help, no one heard his cries — except Jake, the family's 4-year-old black Labrador retriever.

The dog ran to the riverbank, jumped in and swam toward Tony.

FULL story at link.

[midnight]

1. What a great story....

They look like best buds.

[WillParkinson]

2. Awesome...

And it had a happier ending than "For Better or Worse" (comic strip) with Farley, who died saving the life of April, the youngest daughter. (Yeah, I know, but this story made me think of that and I admit I cried when Farley died.)

[ellie]

7. My mom stopped

reading that comic strip because of that. It was right around the time our dog died.

[dipsydoodle]

3. What if it had been Goerge ?

Would you have let the dog save him or taken a possibly prize winning picture.

Which just leaves the question : would you have used monochrome or colour film ?

[hlthe2b]

5. I'd have gone in after...

the dog....:evilgrin:

[dipsydoodle]

9. I read that numerous times before............

I noticed the dog :rofl:

[dems_rightnow]

4. Dogs are wonderful beings

Completely devoted to their "masters"

[Catch22Dem]

6. That's a beautiful dog! Looks just like the one sitting next to me

Mine's such a doll. :D

[LWolf]

8. Not surprising.

Dogs are loving, loyal and courageous creatures. People could learn much from them, if they would.

What a great story!

[ljm2002]

10. "This forgives the holes he's dug"...

..."and the mud he's brought in."

I should think so! Way to go, Jake!!!

:woohoo: :yourock: :woohoo: :yourock: :woohoo: :yourock:

[lukasahero]

11. Of course it's a Lab

I opened this thinking maybe there would be a picture and that there was a good chance the dog was a Lab. Good boy, Jake, good boy. :hug:

[distantearlywarning]

12. I had a black lab as a kid who did the exact thing for me!

She also went and found my mother once when I climbed up on a ladder and sat on the roof of the house (and barking wasn't sufficient to entice me back down again).

That's a smart and heroic breed of dog!

[lukasahero]

13. Kickin' it for the night crew

There's so much bad news out there, sometimes a good story can cut through the garbage to remind what we're fighting for.