Wild goose chase leads to dog rescue

The geese made her do it.

Millie, a 3-year-old Goldendoodle, couldn’t help herself Friday when she saw a flock of geese take off. The dog, who was leashed and out with her owner for a walk, had to follow and took off running.

“She just slipped out of our hand and kept running,” said Pedro Escobar, who lives near the lake in Grandwood Park. “She ran across half the lake.”

Then, she fell through the ice.

“Thankfully, the fire department came very quick and they got her out,” said Escobar, who called firefighters but said he was considering getting in a kayak himself to rescue the dog before firefighters arrived. “I don’t know if they understand how much that meant to us.”

He said firefighters, who were called to the scene around 11:16 a.m., immediately put him, his parents and his sister at ease and let them know everything would be OK.

In all, the rescue took about 15 minutes. Firefighters Mike Gorski and Evan Sherling already were suited up and ready to go when they got on the scene. They used the neighbor’s kayak to rescue Millie, who was about 50 yards from shore and struggling to get back up on the ice shelf when firefighters first arrived.

“We were panicking and they let us know everything was going to be OK,” Escobar said. “We are forever grateful for them helping our family.”

As for Millie, she was back to her normal self within about an hour of the rescue, Escobar said.

“A lot of us are animal lovers; we don’t want to see animals in any kind of danger,” said Bob Heraver, a battalion chief with the Gurnee Fire Department.

Millie was happy to be home with her human family and the two other dogs — a Great Dane named Rock and a Siberian Huskie named Saphire, who live with her. Of the three dogs, Millie is the youngest and most energetic, Escobar said.

Does he expect Millie will chase geese, or other animals, again?

“Absolutely,” he said. “But hopefully not into a lake.”