Dog Lifeguards to the Rescue!
Beacon and Buoy are trained to help human lifeguards do water rescues.
Greg Wilfert
Beacon and Buoy love the beach because they’re great swimmers.
Like many beaches, the one in Scarborough Beach State Park in Scarborough, Maine, has a team of lifeguards trained to rescue any swimmers that are in trouble. Most of the lifeguards are human, but two of them are dogs!
Beacon and Buoy are the first canine (dog) lifeguards in the United States. They’re trained to go into the water with human lifeguards when someone needs to be rescued and help get that person back to land as quickly as possible. The dogs wear life jackets that give them extra help when they’re swimming. Each jacket has a handle along the spine so the human lifeguard, along with rescue equipment, can get a ride out to the rescue site.
Greg Wilfert
Beacon and Buoy are good at their jobs for a couple of reasons. For one thing, they train with the American Academy of Canine Water Rescue, which teaches dogs and their owners how to perform water rescues. Also, Beacon and Buoy are Newfoundlands, a breed of dog that’s naturally good at swimming. Their big paws help them move through the water, and their giant bodies give them the strength to pull people and even boats.
Greg Wilfert
Beacon and Buoy wear life jackets that protect them and also help humans do their rescues.
It’s not all work and no play for these pups. According to Greg Wilfert, who manages the park, Beacon and Buoy are very popular with the people who visit the beach.
“[People] come up and ask if they can pat them and we let them, and they’re very affectionate dogs,” Wilfert told WGME CBS 13 News.
Wilfert hopes more beaches will employ canine lifeguards in the future.
“It’s [natural for] them to help when they see someone in trouble,” he told the Portland Press Herald.