[niteowl77]

Your dog might have been able to hear the river current. It would be louder where the ice was thinner.

Could be. He had to have some sort of instinct going for him, because he was one of those dogs that caused people to just shake their heads, chuckle and say something to the effect of "That dog just isn't very bright."

What sort of smarts is knowing he was bright enough not to get his feet wet that day, and I wasn't.

We kids used to take terrible chances with the ice on that river, and yet none of us ever had a major misfortune. After that incident, I became a lot more cautious.

[marktwain]

We kids used to take terrible chances with the ice on that river, and yet none of us ever had a major misfortune. After that incident, I became a lot more cautious.

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In the spring, we would chop off ice in the river, to ride as as a raft, down stream. Hard to make them big enough, and they were constantly shrinking.

Our “exit strategy” was when we ended up in the shallow river, to stay upright (6” to 18” deep), get to shore, and run all the way back to the farm house.

Then we would strip off the wet clothes and warm up.