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A heroic dog was captured in a video helping a hitchhiking woodchuck in a Massachusetts lake return to shore earlier this week.
Lauren Russell shared a video with WCVB of her 2-year-old golden retriever, Wally, swimming in Hickory Hills Lake and spotting a woodchuck, who jumped on the dog's back and rode back to shore on Monday (June 7).
"He was about 100 meters out and a woodchuck I think just crawled right up on his back and he swam back to shore with him," Russell said. "We were flabbergasted. It was unbelievable. We couldn't believe what we were seeing."
Wally doggie paddled back to shore without being phased by the unfamiliar passenger riding on his back.
"He didn't even care," Russell said. "He like took a peek back on his back and then just kept swimming."
Russell said her pup shared another incredible interaction with the woodchuck during their brief encounter when they got back to the shore.
"It came back to the island, hopped off his back, and then scurried away and they gave each other a little kiss goodbye. They like touched snouts and then he ran away," Russell said.
Russell described Hickory Hills as Wally's "happy place" and said her dog loves to swim in the Lunenburg lake.