Doberman Heroes

When I was five years old my family lived in Southern California at a place called Sherwood Lake. We had eight rabbits in hutches in the back yard, two Cocker Spaniels, and two Doberman Pinschers for pets and when we walked to the lake to go swimming, the entire menagerie came (well, not the rabbits).

My brother and I wore life vests, and my mother, a strong swimmer, carried a medium-sized beach ball. In our previous excursions, we had waded through deep, sticky mud to get in. That wasn’t a problem, but the sticky mud from ankles down when we came out was. This trip, Mother took us to a nearly flat rock she had found that met the edge of the lake only six inches above the water. 

We all frolicked in the lake, paddling and splashing and batting the ball back and forth. The water was cool and exhilarating; the day was hot and sunny; we laughed and shrieked. An unlucky toss flung the ball far off to the right. Mother lifted each of us onto the rock with a stern injunction to stay put. Then she swam after the ball. She easily caught up to it. But when she turned to swim back she could use only her legs; her hands were full of beach ball. Strangely, there was a current there, pulling her away; there must have been an unseen outlet to the lake in that direction.

She kicked strongly but made no headway. I became anxious. Mother said nothing but kicked harder. The two Dobermans whined softly in their throats and paced back and forth on the bank beside her. When she began to lose the battle and drift backwards the dogs exchanged a look and jumped together into the water. They quickly positioned themselves one on each side of her and placed a mouth gently on her upper arm. The three of them swam against the current, two doggy paddles and a flutter kick, and soon they were all back at the rock.

Except for the whining of the dogs, the entire episode was silent. The rescue was entirely conceived and carried out by the dogs. You can believe I gave each of them a big hug on the way home, and I’ve loved, admired, and respected Doberman Pinschers ever since.