TRAPPED in thick mud, labrador Max gazes helplessly at his owners. Unable to move, the dog had to wait for the emergency services to free him from mud off the Bullnose as his owners looked on.
They were forced to dial 999 after Max fell 5m from the dock wall at St Andrew's Quay, west Hull, while chasing a bird.
A team of volunteers from Humber Rescue eventually released Max from the mud after he became trapped at 11.10am yesterday.
Mandy Ramsden, who waded through the mud to get Max, said: "We could see the dog stood in the mud, looking up at his owners longingly, bless him.
"He was absolutely lathered in mud."
Mrs Ramsden and two other crew members from Humber Rescue found Max staring up at his owners from the Bullnose at the Quay.
Unable to get their boat close to Max, Mrs Ramsden was forced to tie a rope around her waist and crawl on her hands and knees to where Max was stuck.
"Luckily, he wasn't heavy enough to sink into the mud," she said.
"We were really lucky he was such a well-behaved dog because he wasn't running around and making the situation worse.
"The coastguard told us to get close enough to call him and he would come but there wasn't a lot of water, so we anchored the boat up against the wall of the Bullnose, clamped a rope from my waist and I waded across.
"It was thigh deep and I couldn't walk, so it was a hands and knees job.
"Then I called and called until he got to me."
She then lifted Max out of the mud and took him onto the boat.
Despite not being distressed throughout his ordeal, Max started to whimper when he was given a lift on the boat back to the marina, where he was greeted by his relieved owners.
Mrs Ramsden said: "He seemed all right.
"He was quite an intelligent dog, so he knew we were there to help him, although he cried and whimpered all the way back because he had to leave his owners.
"He was absolutely plastered in mud and he plastered everyone else, too. It took a while to clean him down."
Dog rescues are a common task for Humber Coastguard and Humber Rescue, who deal with around two a week.
Although they are concerned for the animal, they carry out the rescues because worried owners often put themselves in danger by trying to save their pets themselves.
"It is when the owners go and help them that scares us," said Mrs Ramsden.
"Most of the time, animals will find their own way out eventually.
"We watched a deer swim the width of the Humber once.
"Rescues like this are more to make sure the owners don't do anything, so we will always do what we can without anyone putting their lives at risk."
Max's owners took him back home to recover from his ordeal.
Mrs Ramsden said: "I bet he is probably sitting at home now, hopefully having had a bath."
A spokesman for Humber Coastguard said: "The worry for us was the fact the dog couldn't get off the mud and if the owner had gone to rescue it, it could have caused bigger problems. In this case, he was sensible and didn't do that.
"A rescue like this is something we do once or twice a week. It happens quite regularly.
"A dog might chase a rabbit or a bird off a cliff edge and, nine times out of ten, they don't get hurt."
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