UPS driver Ryan Arens was out on his route in Bozeman, Montana, just a few days before Christmas when he heard a dog in need of help. He followed the yelping through the dark to a nearby pond where he saw the dog trapped on the ice.
“I could see the dog trapped about 10-15 feet off of shore, with ice all around it,” Ryan told the Tribune.
A man was also there in a rowboat trying to work his way out to the dog but was having trouble. So Ryan stripped down to his boxers and slid the boat out onto the ice and used it to distribute his weight. He reached the thin ice where he fell through, and that’s when he swam to the dog who was starting to go under at that point.
Ryan grabbed Sadie and swam to the thicker ice where he was able to lift the dog to safety and pull himself out of the water. Animal control and the local sheriff department arrived, and Ryan went to take a hot shower before finishing his route!
Sadie survived with no serious injuries, and Ryan was okay aside from a few cuts and cold shock. But he’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
“Animals are my weakness,” he told the Tribune. “It was the highlight of my 14-year UPS career.”
He recently reunited with Sadie while on a delivery, and the two-year-old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon recognized her hero and greeted him with excitement! 🙂
h/t People