Nearly 350 years ago, dogs were being used in England to rescue sailors and those working on the river, who happened to fall in. They were trained for this purpose, and a common sight. The breed of dog used was supposedly brought to these shores by William the Conqueror from France, but who knows? The image below shows part of an old map of that time with the dogs swimming in the water on the busy river.
So how nice is this, that when dogs get into trouble around water, these days we can call on the help of the RNLI to come to the rescue. This poor dog was seriously injured when she chased after a group of ducks, she went over the wall and fell quite a distance onto the shore of the Thames in London. With the aid of a lifeboat and its's crew, a vet and nurse, they loaded her onto a spine-board, onto the lifeboat, and away up river to where she was offloaded and away to the vets practice for treatment.
And as for my lot, they still swim in the Thames, but have now discovered an easier way across!