Sadie makes a splash
Runaway pooch that got pooped after swimming far out into Okanagan Lake saved by Kelowna canoeists
Arunaway dog paddling far out in the chilly waters of Okanagan Lake was brought safely to shore by outrigger canoeists.
Sadie, a Rhodesian ridgeback, was hundreds of metres from land when she was rescued by six members of the Kelowna Paddle Centre.
“She seemed pretty tired when we got to her,” Keith Wagner, one of the rescuers, said Tuesday. “She was too heavy to lift out of the water, but one of the guys basically held her close to the canoe and we got her back on dry land.”
Despite being in the 14 C water for about 40 minutes, Sadie has suffered no ill effects from her misadventure.
“She wouldn’t eat or drink anything at first and she was sort of hobbling around, but she’s happy and healthy and back to her old self now,” said owner Rebekah McCallum.
The happy ending capped what could have been a sad story when Sadie escaped last Thursday from the yard of her owner’s house. McCallum and her husband were on holiday, and Sadie was being dog-sat by her sister, Amanda Chase, and Amanda’s boyfriend Mason Rice.
Something spooked Sadie around 5:30 p.m. and she ran off. With Chase and Rice in pursuit, Sadie ran across several busy streets, narrowly missing vehicles as she headed west.
Sadie ran into Okanagan Lake at the Francis Avenue road end, and Rice didn’t think twice about rushing in after her.
“I’m a strong swimmer and I thought catching up to her was doable,” said Rice, 24, a manager at Dockside Marine and harbourmaster at the Pentowna Marina in Peachland.
But the lake was filled with debris from the spring runoff, and Rice lost sight of Sadie amid the logs and branches. He swam back to shore and began calling out, attracting the attention of the nearby canoeists.
Paddling a six-seat outrigger canoe, they joined the search for Sadie and finally spotted her far from shore.
“It looked like the dog was swimming for Penticton, she was so far out,” Wagner said.
Back on land at the Paddle Centre, Sadie was rubbed with blankets to warm her up.
McCallum, who returned from holiday the day after Sadie’s escapade, said it’s out of character for the dog to run off like that and even more so to go in the lake.
“She hates the water,” McCallum said. “When we go to the dog beach, she basically just lounges on the rocks.
“That’s what makes this whole thing so bizarre,” McCallum said. “I’m just so thankful for everyone who came together to save Sadie.”