Now There's a Switch: Dog Pulls Owner from Frozen River

April 23, 2001 Richmond Dale, Ohio, USA

The 46th annual Skippy Dog Hero of the Year award has been given to a three-year-old, female Australian shepherd mix named Biyou.

Biyou is credited with having saved the life of owner Lisa Parker after she fell through the ice into the freezing Ohio River.

Ms. Parker had gone out onto the ice to rescue her horse who had fallen into the river about 200 yards from her home in Richmond Dale.

She was unable to save the trapped horse, and furthermore, the ice cracked, and she herself became immersed in the subzero-degree waters of the Ohio.

Hearing her distant screams for help, Biyou came runnung to the scene and physically dragged Ms. Parker back to shore.

Even then, Ms. Parker, with her clothes soaked and her body temperature dangerously dropping, began to lose consciousness.  She was still at the edge of the river, separated from safety by a high, vertical bank.

Performing her own sort of canine cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Biyou began licking her owner's face, nudging and prodding her, and this gave the woman the strength to climb out.

At the top of the bank, Ms. Parker collapsed once again.  Biyou repeated the procedure, until her owner was finally able to make it back to the house.

"Biyou saved my life several times that morning," Ms. Parker recounts, "by pulling me out of the water and by urging me to make it back to the house each time I didn't think I could go any further.

"If it wouldn't have been for her, I would have either drowned or froze to death. She is my hero and guardian angel."

Biyou was given a year-long supply of Skippy dog food, a cash prize and her own engraved trophy: the coveted Skippy Dog Bowl.

To read through the Skippy Dog Hero archives (1954-1999), click here.

More stories about dogs, ice and heroics:
Terrified Terrier Rescued by Neighbors (Mar. 17)
Samaritan Dives Into Icy Lake, Saves Doberman (Feb. 20)
Doggie Castaway Lands on Nova Scotia (Jan. 13)

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