A life saved, or a video staged?
We don’t know the story behind this video — it seems nobody does — but that isn’t stopping anyone from voicing opinions about it.
On the surface, it appears to show a dog saving a puppy from a swimming pool.
Did the puppy need saving? Was it thrown into the pool? If the pup was drowning, why didn’t whoever was doing the videotaping try to save it?
Don’t expect to find any answers. Every story we looked up was just assumption and conjecture. More and more that seems to have become the norm, online, for what we once called news: “Post first and ask questions later, if at all.”
“Hero Lifeguard Dog Saves Puppy From Drowning in Pool,” says the Huffington Post.
“Dog saves puppy in pool while owner nonchalantly films,” MSN’s headline said.
The accompanying stories contain no facts, but lots of speculation — even more of which can be found in their comment sections.
Our guess is it’s a backyard trick that dog and owner have done before — why else have the video camera at the ready? And based on the splash in the middle of the pool at the beginning of the video, it does appear the pup was tossed in.
So, unlike some commenters, we aren’t sure that the dog’s owner should be tracked down and arrested, or that the golden retriever should immediately be awarded a trophy — at least not until a fact or two surfaces.
Posted by jwoestendiek April 10th, 2012 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: animals, dog, golden retriever, hero, life saving, lifesaver, news, news media, pets, pool, puppy, puppy rescued from pool, rescue, rescued, swimming pool, video
Comments
Comment from selkie
Time April 10, 2012 at 2:11 pm
disgusting…. anything for their moment of fame – both the pup and its saviour seem quite distressed – look at how far the older dog drags the pup to safety.
Comment from Lia Pettersen
Time April 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Why would a video of someone tossing a puppy into a pool just to be able to upload it to youtube be funny or cute????? This is animal cruelty!
Comment from Raw Pet Food
Time April 10, 2012 at 8:03 pm
Puppies can swim without teaching them, so the puppy would probably find the way out eventually. The problem is if the puppy continues trying to get out on the wrong side of the pool until it gets tired and finally get drowned. I hate to think that someone actually thrown the puppy in the water, but that probably is the case here. Otherwise, the person who records the video would leave the camera and save the puppy. The only good thing here is that the bigger dog is obviously smart enough, or trained to save it. So, it would do the same if the puppy goes in the pool again.
Comment from Lauren
Time July 3, 2012 at 5:35 pm
The comment of who was doing the video is astute in the conclusion that the dog was indeed thrown in….as for the comment that the puppy would have found a way out is highly unlikely …. very cruel of owners for 15 seconds of fame. JackassessSS!!!!!!!!
Comment from Lauren
Time July 3, 2012 at 5:37 pm
The lab saving its pup is what is the difference between animals and humans like that who would throw a pup in a pool. !!!!
Comment from anon
Time April 10, 2012 at 8:30 am
The video begins with a mid-pool splash from the puppy which appears to have been thrown into the pool rather than having fallen in from the pool edge treading to the center.
On the surface it appears cruel and done for thrill value.
It is possible the pup was prior water-trained using floats and was used to treading water.
All to what end?
Stupid is as stupid does.