Man braves ice to rescue dog in Indian Bay

By JEREMY WEBER

Lake County Leader

Quick thinking and swift action were the difference between life and death last week when Pita, a Red Heeler, fell into the frigid and partially frozen waters of Indian Bay north of Polson.

Area resident Valerie Lindstrom said she had just raised the shades in her house that overlooks the bay when she noticed her neighbor’s Australian Shepherd, Loki, racing back and forth along the edge of the ice that extended more than 100 yards into the bay.

“I saw something dark in the water where Loki was running. When I took out my binoculars to get a closer look, I realized the object was the head of a dog,” Lindstrom said.

Not recognizing the dog, Lindstrom called her neighbors, Bill and Peggy Olson, to see if the dog might be theirs. Ten minutes later, Bill was on scene and ready to go into action.

“I grabbed a rope and a life jacket and got there as fast as I could,” Olson said.

Olson took on the role of first responder as he grabbed a canoe from shore and began to make his way across the ice to the struggling Pita.

“It was difficult to move across the ice,” Olson said. “I wish I would have grabbed my ice cleats.”

Keeping one foot in the canoe and one on the ice, Olson made his way to Pita and began his rescue effort. After several unsuccessful attempts to throw the rope to Pita in the hopes she would grab it with her teeth, Olson put the skills he learned on his uncle’s ranch as a child to use and attempted to lasso the dog. After several tries, the loop caught beneath Pita’s neck and Olson was able to pull the shivering dog onto the ice.

While Pita was out of the water, her ordeal was not yet over.

“There was not a lot of life left in her when I was able to get her out of the water,” Olson said. “She was unable to stand. Hypothermia was setting in and she was shaking uncontrollably. I took off my coat, wrapped her in it and pulled her and the canoe back to shore. There was nothing else that I could do.”

Once they reached shore, Olson and Lindstrom began trying to warm the dog, which was having trouble breathing after being in the water for at least an hour.

“We tried a hair dryer, but she did not like that,” Lindstrom said. “I wound up putting her in a blanket and holding her. She loved it, but she was shaking the whole time. It took more than two hours until she finally began to act like herself again.”

A search and rescue team was dispatched after Peggy Olson called 911, but the team was called off after the dog was pulled from the water. While the team was not needed, Lindstrom said she was thankful that the team was willing to help save a life, even the life of a dog.

“I think the rescue crews would have been too late to save Pita and we were lucky that Bill was there, but I am grateful that search and rescue was ready to come help,” she said.

While no one knows why Pita went out on the ice that morning, Lindstrom speculates that she may have been thirsty and looking for water. She encourages all dog owners to make heated water bowls accessible to their outside pets in the winter.

As for Pita’s rescuer, Bill Olson says that Pita, who was once somewhat aggressive towards him, now can’t wait to come up and lick his hand when he comes to visit.

“I never thought I was in any danger while I was out there on the ice,” he said. “I wasn’t going to risk my life for a dog and I feel that I didn’t. I did what had to be done and I made a new friend in the process.”