PICS: Dog swims out to sea to rescue his blind friend

A nice story of canine loyalty to start the day with.

JOE reader Amie Lynch has been telling us about an extraordinary act of bravery from her dog Jacko, who rescued his pal Frodo when he got into difficulty in the sea. Frodo - a spaniel - is completely blind from glaucoma, while Jacko - a lab - has perfect sight. Amie was out walking the two dogs and throwing sticks into the water for a reluctant Jacko to chase, all the while keeping Frodo on his leash. Next thing Frodo, who's hydrophobic as well as blind, slipped his leash and fell off a ledge into the sea.

Jacko, the hero of the hour

What happened next was extraordinary. "At this point I started to panic a little as I watched him swim away from the shore, out to sea," Amie tells us. "When I called him the sound was obviously bouncing around and he was very confused so proceeded to swim away from the beach. I started to take off my jacket thinking I'd have to go swim after him when Jacko (who was afraid of jumping off a few minutes before) hurled himself off the ledge and swam after Frodo. "He swam up on the outside of him and turned him back towards the shore and guided him safely back to the beach. "He's never been trained as a companion dog, obviously just acted on pure instinct. We've also only had him for two months and he was willing to overcome his fear to show loyalty to his mate."

Frodo, safe and sound

Someone get Jacko a medal and a brand new chew toy. Exceptional work.