Dog Rescued from Loch Raven Reservoir

Karen Kleinhen was “scared to death” when she saw her 6-year-old dog, Toby, fall through the ice in the Loch Raven Reservoir Watershed. 

Kleinhen, a Baldwin resident, said she has been walking her two dogs all throughout the reservoir for nearly eight years. But today, on an unseasonably warm February afternoon, her routine walk turned into a frantic plea for help. 

"He saw some geese out on the water—his favorite thing—and he just ran out. As soon as I saw him run out on the ice, I called him back. As he was turning around he just went under," Kleinhen said. "I was scared to death.”

She tried to break the ice herself, after calling over to her young son for help.

“But I didn't know how deep the water was, so I called 911 and that was it and here they are—my heroes," she said marching up a muddy hill in the reservoir. 

She draped a blanket over the Golden Labrador to dry him off as several firefighters lit the way for her with flashlights. 

When she finally made back to the top of the hill, a little out of breath, she gasped when she saw fire engines from Lutherville and Texas, a rescue boat and about 20 emergency responders prepared to help her stranded pup.   

It took longer for rescue crews to set up and march down the hill entrance to the reservoir—from Dulaney Valley Road—than it did to pull Toby from the water. 

"Fortunately for the dog, he was in shallow enough water where he could stand. He was in the water about an hour,” said Baltimore County Fire Department Capt. Charles Tudor. “Had he not been able to stand, he may have not been able to tread water for that long. 

“It was water up to his mid-body. ... It was very low risk on our end. ... With a little encouragement the rescue swimmer pulled the dog right out and he came right to shore," he continued.

Emergency responders were prepared for the worst. Rescue helicopters circled the watershed, while additional rescue divers suited up outside of the reservoir. 

Toby lept into his master’s car through the driver’s side door, safe and sound, while Kleinhen breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I'm just ecstatic. I can't wait to go home. ... Thank you, I love you," she said to the firefighters.