A pooch who plunged through a frozen lake was saved from the brink by his own pup.
Cocker spaniel Bruce was almost killed when he fell through the ice while on a walk with his dog-walker, who also owns his puppy, River.
Poor Bruce was inches from death when fell into the fishing lake in Horbury, near Wakefield, after curiously scampering across the ice.
Eight-month-old puppy River spotted her dad getting into trouble, and ran to alert her owner Sharon Skinner, who was able to quickly call for help.
West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service rushed to the scene, where Bruce was luckily able to swim to an island in the middle of the lake, with crews using and inflatable sled to reach him and bring the frozen mutt to safety.
Sharon, who is a professional dog walker, spoke of her horror after seeing Bruce stuck in the lake, saying River's quick-thinking showed "just how much she loves her dad".
The dog walker from Wakefield was getting her dogs back into her car at the end of a walk when she noticed Bruce was missing.
“Bruce is usually well behaved, and loves getting into the car at the end of a walk, so when I turned around in the car park and he was gone I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
“I called out for him but couldn’t hear anything – it was his daughter River that alerted me to something being wrong.
"She was running towards me and then off towards the lake, wanting me to follow. She was clearly worried and so I got her into the car and then went to investigate.
“Bruce isn’t a fan of water, normally he would just have a paddle, so when I saw him on the island in the middle of the lake, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
"He was distressed, but there was no way I could get into the water to help him, so I called the fire brigade. I’d seen in the paper and on TV how they have helped save pets, so I knew they were the best people to call.”
“The rescue team were amazing," Sharon added.
"I was in such a panic I wasn’t functioning properly and couldn’t tell them where I was. They found me and were very quick rescuing Bruce.
"He can be unsure about going to strangers, and he was so worried that he started to get back into the water. However, they grabbed him and gave him a warm cuddle as they brought him back – I think he was just as relieved as me."
While Bruce belongs to another family and is regularly walked by Sharon, she owns River.
“Every dog is special, but River showed just how much she loves her dad when she pointed me in the right direction," she added.
The fire service meanwhile praised Sharon for not attempting to rescue Bruce herself following the deaths of four boys who fell into frozen water at a park in Solihull earlier this month.
The deaths of the boys, aged 11, 10, eight and six, prompted urgent calls nationwide for people - particularly young people - not to chance their luck on the ice.
Richard Hawley was the technical rescue officer at the scene.
“The dog walker had been thinking of going into the water to rescue Bruce, but thankfully she called us instead,” he said.
“It was positive to hear from her that our warnings about being careful around icy water are having an impact. Dog walkers should always make sure that if their pet gets into trouble, they contact us straight away.
"We were able to break the ice and get the inflatable sled through the water to rescue Bruce and get him to safety.
"However, if someone had gone into the freezing water to try and rescue him, we could have been dealing with a very different story today.”
