Owner rescues 2 dogs that fell into an icy Boulder lake

BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — Two dogs were rescued by their owner after falling into an icy Boulder lake.

On Thursday, Longmont residents Arnie and Shayna Weil took their two dogs Sonic and Yobo to Coot Lake in Boulder, an area they frequent.

"Year-round, when it's nice out, 4-5 days a week in the summer. Even now, I'll try to come 3-5 days a week," said Arnie Weil. "Our dogs are adventurous so we were walking around the Coot Lake, they saw two tennis balls that were floating in the water."

According to the City of Boulder, The Open Space and Mountain Parks Department currently allows guardians to hike with their dogs off-leash on certain designated trails under the Voice and Sight Control Tag program. The Weil Family said Sonic and Yobo are experienced swimmers, with required Voice and Sight tags, allowing them to be off-leash at Coot Lake.

"Sonic walked on first, fell in, and then Yobo followed him, fell in, then, I saw them scratching at the ice. I was like, okay, they're not going to get up on ice," said Arnie. "Took my shoes off, threw my phone out and tried to belly slide across the water."

All caught on camera, Arnie was able to break the ice, which allowed the dogs to swim back to shore, where Shayna was waiting. Thankfully, the conditions allowed Arnie to get to the dogs quickly.

"It wasn't snowing. It's been beautiful out here the last week. We're lucky that it was not frigid cold outside of the water and it wasn't too deep. Swimming would have been tougher. I would have done it but it would have been a lot scarier for me," said Arnie.  "It was freezing cold... It was one of those heart-stopping colds."

Fire departments all across the state warn Coloradans to be safe around water all year around, not just in winter with icy conditions.

"It is very dangerous. Being in the water, in icy water, that can turn very serious, very quickly," said Connor Christian of South Metro Fire Rescue. "If an animal falls onto the ice and you are on shore, the best thing you can do is stay where you are and call 911 because the last seen point when our crews arrive on scene, that's what's really important. If you have that last seen point and if it turns into a situation where the animal goes underneath the water, that last seen point is critical in order for rescuers to figure out where that animal could be."

Sonic and Yobo made it out just fine.

"I don't think we had time. I think it was just kind of an emergency situation, had to get them out," said Shayna. "They were fine, they wanted to keep going."

Firefighters also recommend if a person falls in, try to rest on something, like the ice, and remain calm until help arrives.

"Regardless of the time of year or the temperature that's outside, all water, at least in our district, we consider as cold because you never really know what temperature is and in worst case scenario, if somebody falls in the water, if an animal falls into the water or ice, that can turn into a very serious situation quickly," said Christian.