Dog saved life of owner who fell in ice hole

Retiree Anatoly Chernenko, from Chulym, in Novosibirsk region, fell into the ice hole while on his daily three hour walk with his dog. He wore high fur boots, hunting ski and padded jacket.

The route took him over frozen Itkul Lake, five kilometres from his home. But he fell into an ice hole. He managed to pull off one boot and place it on the solid ice but couldn't climb out of the chilly water. 

Here he would have died but for Dick's frantic barking and running which caught the attention of hunter Vladimir Karablin, 57.

He told to KP: 'I was on my snowmobile and suddenly saw a laika running on the lake's shore,' he said. 'I thought, 'Weird, what is a dog doing on wasteland?' and started moving towards the dog. 

'When I saw Anatoly in the ice hole, I immediately recognised him, from when we worked together in next door offices. By then he was too tired and wasn't even asking for help. 

'I saw his frightened eyes. I rushed to him, ice was crashing under my feet so I crawled to him on my tummy, and grabbed his arm...' The dog, having summoned help, now began biting the rescuer's leg. 

'He was thinking he's protecting his owner. So I had to fight with the dog and save the human. I took him out, heavy, frozen, one of his feet was in a wet woollen sock, the other one was bare, so I used the furry boot which was thrown to the shore.'

The pensioner had been in the water for 40 minutes. He rushed Anatoly to the nearest hospital on his snowmobile. The sturdy Siberian has recovered without serious harm to his health. 

The local department of the emergencies' Ministry has sent papers to Moscow seeking a bravery award for the 56-year-old hunter. And hopefully the dog will be honoured too.