Ice

Another man drowned yesterday trying to rescue his two dogs who had fallen through ice on a frozen river. Number one rule near ice - keep your dogs on lead. Apart from the shock of plunging into freezing water, dogs can drift under the solid ice and be trapped. And you cannot tell from the shore whether the ice is strong enough to take their weight - just don't risk it. I walked Oliver and Aled along a canal last week; the ice had broken up but was stll in big enough sheets to trap a panicking little dog. My two have been taught not to go into the water, but if a larger dog rushed at them they might well step back and fall in. So they were on lead for the whole 3 miles but still managed to enjoy their walk. Number two rule - better safe than sorry.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Will agree 100%. What really amazes me is how many people took their children to lakes to ice skate -- total idiocy.

So sad.

When discussing my icycling brother in law with a neighbour he told me he'd seen worse on the same lake shortly after.A group of adults were supervising kids playing soccer on the frozen lake...the gardaí came along and cleared them off.
I'm afraid I don't have any dogs to walk at the moment,Daisy is recuperating and it's just too cold to allow Holly out.I took her out for 2 mins wrapped in a blanket and she shivered so it was straight back in again.
Sins

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7017484684?Two Georgia Teens Drown In Icy Lakehttp://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett/atlanta-ice-dacula-mourns-271820.html

Our son lives in this same county as the news story. Two teenagers died this weekend, out on ice covered lake that broke. Where was their common sense? It just does not get cold enough, long enough, down here to do this safely. How devastated their parents must be!

Yes, I agree 100% as last year one of my dogs stepped off the boardwalk on a thin layer of ice in -17 C weather. I always keep them on leash around ponds, rivers etc. in the winter. However, I got quite a scare with my new dog Teena just last Friday. We were by the ocean and she spotted a duck off shore and in a flash she ran across the rocks and dove into the ocean with her winter coat on after the duck. The temp was -8 C. Thank God she turned around before she got too far. I had to pull the wet coat off her and take the dry coat from my other dog to put it on her. I got her in the car and home in a warm bath ASAP! I'm so lucky she was able to get back to shore.

I was really surprised as this is a dog that doesn't like to get her feet wet. So the lesson here is that even with an open body of water in the winter you need to be careful, especially, if you have an impulsive dog like mine. We did end up in emergency yesterday with her as she scratched her cornea chasing a squirrel through the bushes. Her off leash privelges have been revoked for the time being.