Offshoreonly.com - I will never go to Folsom Lake again....

We went boating Saturday at Folsom Lake. My wife's brother Ken, and his wife, Sharon came with us - along with my dogs Grizz and Kobe. We drove the boat to the back of Folsom lake where it is only a 5 mph zone. We found a nice little cove and put the anchor down. The dogs jumped up on the back of the boat and started whining that they wanted to jump in. We all encouraged them and finally, Kobe jumped in and Grizz followed. They swam all around, went to the bank and ran through the dry grass carrying sticks and chasing each other. We at sandwiches.

I noticed that Grizz was checking something out behind a large boulder and told him to "get out of there". Grizz always got into everything, but he always came when I called him and always listened. He immediatly left and went back to cavorting with Kobe.

Then, I saw both dogs behind the large boulder. Knowing the area is full of rattlesnacks and cougers, I yelled at them again and they both left. I continued talking with Ken and Sharon telling them about our Havasu trip when Ken said, "the other dog is drowning your dog".

I saw Grizz come up for air and sink back down out of sight. I immediatly jumped in and swam to him. I saw him come up again, go under, bubbles come up, and he did not re appear. I was so exhausted from the swim, I tried to look under for him but could not stay under long enough. I yelled at Sharon to bring me a life jacket and she swam over with two. I grabbed one, went looking for Grizz under water and think I saw him on the bottom about 12 - 15 ft deep. I took several deep breaths and swam down. It was him. I grabbed him by the collar, and barely made it to the surface. I swam with him to the shore. Sharon and I got him on the bank, put his back end uphill and did CPR. We did everything we could for about 10 minutes. I could not even get any of the water out of him... Nor could I revive him.

We all realized that we had lost him.......

We put a life vest on him and I swam back to the boat with him. Ken helped me get him in the boat. We drove back, put him in the back seat of the truck and started driving home.

Very hard drive..... Blaming myself for not being in better shape to get to him earlier to save him. Wishing one of my sons were with me - they surely could have got to him in time.

Then, it dawned on me that he did not have any water in his lungs. We tried and tried, but could not get any liquid out of him and I checked twice for any obstructions in his airway. The fact of the matter is that he did not drown... He had NO water in his lungs.

When I got him home, I saw that he had bled a considerable amount from his nose. This was new.... And, it was frothy looking - but not from air- rigor mortis had already set in. I saw blood on his muzzel too. I took my razor and shaved his nose and there it was... The tiny pin point puncture that was actively bleeding from the rattlesnake bite. It got injected directly into his sinuses and was absorbed into his bloodstream where it immediatly shut down his respiratory system.

There was nothing I, nor anyone else, could have done. He died from the snake bite trying to get back to me in the boat. He tried so hard, and died in the process....

He was a son of Jazztimes Frequent Flyer - http://www.jazztimelabs.com/index.htm

I have already ordered a pup from his father: http://www.wisconsinlabradors.com/index.html

He was 2 years old, a black lab. I will miss him terribly.

Rick