Max, Argentine Mastiff Dog, Rescued After Fall Into Freezing Smith Reservoir (VIDEO)

An 85-pound Argentine Mastiff dog named Max is lucky to be alive after falling into freezing cold Smith Reservoir in Lakewood, Colorado on Tuesday afternoon.

The 3-year-old dog was off-leash "doing his business," according to 9News when he saw a coyote running out of a bush. Max took after after the coyote and both Max and the coyote wound up on the ice of the Smith Reservoir.

Unfortunately for Max the ice didn't hold up and only seconds later both he and the coyote fell into the icy water around 5 p.m. as the sun was beginning to set. Max's owner Michael Robinson told 7News that the coyote went under the icy water and was not spotted again, however Max kept paddling and was able to stay afloat.

Max paddled for about 20 minutes before the West Metro Fire Department came to the rescue. As seen in the video above, firefighter Tyler Sugaski, in a special cold-water rescue suit and tethered by a rope, waded over to the water's edge until he finally broke through the ice and fell into the frigid water himself.

Sugaski, who had trained for this kind of scenario, but had never been faced with performing it in the real world, Fox31 reports, broke through the remainder of the ice with his arms and inched closer and closer to Max who began to paddle towards Sugaski. Sugaski told Fox31:

It was clear Max was slowing down. He knew the minute I got in it was safest to come towards me.

Once Sugaski had a good hold on Max, he and the dog were towed in via the tether line attached to Sugaski. Sugaski helped hoist Max onto more solid icy ground and after a few shakes Max ran toward another firefighter further up from the reservoir ice and simply sat down, taking a much deserved rest.

UPDATE: On a Denver morning news show, during a follow up segment regarding the rescue, the dog bit a news anchor on the face. For more information on that story, click here.

WATCH the dramatic video above.

Comments

[path less travelled]

09:27 PM on 02/10/2012

They should not have used government funded resources to rescue a vicious dog. By attacking the coyote the dog showed that it was vicious and out of control

[Citats]

10:09 AM on 02/13/2012

1) Shut up.

2) The dog was curious, not vicious. Dogs, unless trained otherwise, chase anything that runs.

3) Shut up.

[Christine Houchens]

01:25 PM on 02/10/2012

As stupid as it would have been, had it been my dog, I know I would have not been able to stand there and watch her fall into the freezing water and struggle, I would have ran in after her.

[Richcrafter]

10:51 PM on 02/09/2012

Enough. People!

[slam666]

06:36 PM on 02/09/2012

my cat can woop any dog on this page.. hes a bad cat, bad to the bone

[Abby Lemonade]

06:44 AM on 02/14/2012

my cat could smackdown your cat

[ninjacb]

10:40 AM on 02/09/2012

what a great video. awesome. that man will get his reward in heaven. i am just overwhelmed when people put themselves at risk to help an animal. sometimes it keeps me from losing hope for mankind.

[dcol]

09:45 AM on 02/09/2012

Squirrel !!!!!!!!!

[Devontate]

09:25 AM on 02/09/2012

That firefighter deserves a medal!!

[slam666]

06:34 PM on 02/09/2012

screw the medal, how about a raise

[Derdekea8]

09:08 AM on 02/09/2012

The dog owner should feel terrible being indirectly responsible for the death of innocent coyote. She angers me that by allowing her dog to chase that animal, it died a freezing death which was completely preventable. Keep your dogs leashed!

[Indienow]

09:18 AM on 02/09/2012

Agreed. Keep your dogs leashed and spend more time walking with them. If you have to go off-leash, there are almost always areas that are safe for pets and wildlife.

[Mark Dygert]

09:57 AM on 02/09/2012

Also... If you're going to go off leash make sure the dog is trained properly. Even when the dog is off leash it still should be controllable.

[jimdavis11]

09:02 AM on 02/09/2012

Good work, It's good to finally see a story about a human risking his life to rescue a dog, because you see so many about dogs risking their lives to rescue humans!

[jimdavis11]

09:07 AM on 02/09/2012

Want to read a story about a heroic dog? Google "Sergeant Stubby"

[jimdavis11]

09:41 AM on 02/09/2012

P.S. while your at it google "jack the baboon" and read about a very intelligent animal who worked as a railroad switch man.

[RJ9255]

08:56 AM on 02/09/2012

Thank you to the Firefighter who rescued this doggie! I hope the owner learns from this lesson to NEVER LET YOUR DOG OFF LEASH for this very reason! You never know what's going to compel them to run away from you before you can do anything about it. Besides, why should the animal going to the bathroom be a reason for letting them off leash in the first place? He's a very lucky pet owner and I hope he has to pay for this FD assistance - maybe then he'll think twice about letting his dog off leash ever again.

[Devontate]

09:28 AM on 02/09/2012

I let my dogs off leash all the time, and they've never fallen into icy water. Or off a cliff. Or gotten hit by a car. Or attacked by a bear.

Just saying, if you're a responsible dog owner and your dog is well-mannered and intelligent, letting them off-leash is actually better for their mental and physical health than being on a leash all the time, and often quite safe.

That said, I'm sure this dog's owner's are responsible pet owners.

[LeeLoPink]

12:35 PM on 02/09/2012

You are the second person I've tried to Fan this week but my computer won't let me!

[Christine Houchens]

08:12 AM on 02/09/2012

If you see the related story to this, this dog bit an anchorwoman in the face. I am hoping he is not euthaized because of this woman's igorance. The dog had just gone through a traumatic experience, was then brought to another frightening place (the studio), full of bright lights, noises and people he did not know and this dumb woman sticks her fight directly in this dogs face, making eye contact (a threat to a dog) and even stayed there after he snarled at her...and so he snapped at and bit her face.

[Devontate]

09:29 AM on 02/09/2012

Oooh. . . dang. I think he'll get the benefit of the doubt, though. You could see he was pretty upset when he came out of the water. I doubt they'd euthanize him.

[Mark Dygert]

10:12 AM on 02/09/2012

She ignored basic dog etiquette that is taught to 3-4 year olds, I just finished talking to my daughter about this a few weeks ago. If it was so shocking for little kids this would be pretty good training material on what not to do when meeting a dog for the first time.

1) She hovered well inside the dogs comfort zone (normal for reporters, not normal for dogs).
2) She was above the dogs head (a sign of dominance).
3) No doubt she was smiling (bearing her teeth).
4) She anthropomorphized the dog and totally thought the dog needed to be "comforted' in a human way.
Those are all things that are signs of aggression for dogs. If you do most of that to humans you'll get a fist full of reasons to back off too.

It's possible her breath might have also been a strong trigger, peasant or not to us dogs have extremely sensitive noses and piping your hot steamy stinky breath in their nostrils is never a good idea unless the dog is familiar with you.

The dog also pulled back right away so it wasn't an attack but a warning nip from a big strong dog, the dog would have done a lot more damage if it attacked.

[Christine Houchens]

11:11 AM on 02/09/2012

Exactly, and I hate that the media is using the word "attack". He did not attack her, he gave her a warning snap, as in "get the F out of my face". He snapped quickly and immediately pulled back and did nothing else. He didn't even move his feet. I am sorry she was bit, but someone should have told her to NOT do all that she did. I just hope those in charge do not make the dog suffer for her ignorance.

[streve]

07:29 AM on 02/09/2012

This is such a great story, But it also shows the importance of not letting your dog off leash, It is probebly not comfortable for the dog to be on leash all the time, But it is safer. The Fire Fighter my not think it, but he is a Hero, Rescueing someones pet is as heroic as rescueing a person. Some peolpe would say thats what the firefighter is paid to do, YES it is, But it takes heroics to do that kind of work.

[Devontate]

09:30 AM on 02/09/2012

Really depends on where you live. . . if you are a responsible dog owner, and your dog is well-mannered and intelligent, it's perfectly safe, and surely enhances the dog's quality of life. I'd rather have my dogs happy and facing a very small chance of being harmed than miserable and completely safe.

[firefromheaven]

05:30 PM on 02/09/2012

There are plenty of places and reasons to let your well trained dog off leash. I breed Irish Setters, I hunt with them. You can't hunt with them on a leash. I don't put my dogs in dangerous situations, but sometimes there are risks in life. Just as we can't go through life and enjoy it without some risk, dogs cant truly be dogs and be sheltered from all risk at the same time. I'm glad I'm not a dog that belongs to most of the people posting here. I'd rather be able to enjoy life even if it means that I had to put up with a slight risk. Actually there is a lot more risk of your dog sneaking out your door and running into traffic than what happened to this dog. That scenario happens multiple times a day and dogs get killed by cars. It's just that those instances don't make national news.

[jbjg24m]

07:24 AM on 02/09/2012

coyotes name wasn't Wiley was it ?

[streve]

07:30 AM on 02/09/2012

If it had been, he would have had an ACME wet suit, and ACME Ice Skates!!!!!!!!!

[firefromheaven]

05:33 PM on 02/09/2012

Or more likely knowing Wiley and ACME anvil... Maybe that's why he went down.

[coussey]

06:34 AM on 02/09/2012

GOD BLESS this firefighter and all the other people that go out of their way to save animals..GREAT STORY

[ddokken69]

02:39 AM on 02/09/2012

Finally a story with a happy ending, GREAT job to the firefighter who risked his own life and to MAX to make it to shore Safely thanks to the firefighter who did what he was trained to do and didn't care if it was a human or animal in trouble he did what he had to do and can't praise him enough.