Two resourceful B.C. men are being credited with saving the life of a border collie after the dog got stuck on a frozen lake.
Dylan Cocqit heard the cries of the dog coming across the southern shore of Wood Lake in Lake Country, as the canine tried to crawl out of a hole in the ice.
"It's crying the entire time, like, shrieking. It was hard to hear that poor puppy crying," Cocqit told CTV News.
The sound was more than he could handle, so he grabbed a weight and smashed up part of the ice, planning to wade into the lake in his pajamas.
But a neighbour saw what Cocqit was doing, and became just as worried for the man as the dog.
"You're going to cramp up before you get there," Bill Varney said he told Cocqit.
"That was my first thought when I saw him. I thought, 'Oh my God. If he's going to go out there, he might not make it.'"
Looking around for a way to help, Varner spotted a canoe nearby. The two used the boat as an icebreaker, smashing the ice in front of them to move closer to the dog.
They reached the collie just as it was nearing exhaustion, and pulled it safely onto the canoe. They then called the dog's owners, who were overjoyed when they heard the dog was safe.
"She was just ecstatic over the phone and she thanked me," Cocqit said.
"It was good to hear, and I'm just glad I was in the right place at the right time."
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Kent Molgat
