Dog Saves Drowning Boy From Family Pool

Bear, a four-year-old black Labrador Retriever, saved a two-year-old Michigan boy from drowning in the family's swimming pool over the weekend.

Patricia Drauch told the Cass County Sheriff's Department that she was walking to the garage in her backyard on Sunday to get a shovel for digging out prickly plants when she realized her youngest son, Stanley, who had been walking behind her, was gone.

Drauch began to search for the boy in the backyard and found him face down in the family swimming pool, according to Wood TV.

It was scary. His lips were blue. His eyes were rolled back, Drauch told 24 Hour News 8. It was the scariest feeling and the image stays in your head for a long time.

Initially, Drauch thought that her young son was floating, but soon she realized that the boy was not even under the water. The family dog, Bear, was in the swimming pool holding up Stanley from underneath.

[Bear] wouldn't move in the pool, she said. He didn't bark. He didn't move. It was like he was afraid to move at all until I got Stanley up out of the pool and that's when [Bear] came up out of the pool with me.

Stanley was unresponsive when Drauch first pulled him from the water. She tried to call 911 for help, but heard a beep on the line and the call did not go through. So she quickly grabbed the boy, put him in the car and rushed to the hospital. On the way, she was finally able to reach the emergency operator and Stanley finally regained consciousness.

On the way, he barfed up a lot of water and then he started to respond, but she kept going and she was just a little over the speed limit, said Kyle Drauch, Patricia's older son, who was there when his mother found his brother drowning.

Drauch got Stanley to the fire department where he was examined by emergency first responders. He was then taken to Three Rivers hospital where he was deemed in good condition. On Monday, the boy was even well enough to play with the dog in the backyard again.

I'd always told [Bear] since he was 4 weeks old that these are your babies, watch out, said Drauch. He has big paws and they were little and I didn't want him to step on them, so it paid off teaching him to watch out for them.

If Bear wasn't out, I don't think Stanley would have made it. He proved that he's got enough love for the kids. He's more than just our hunting dog.