This is a true story about my Grandfather's Labrador, Coco, saving my life.

I was 5, maybe 6, at the time. Mom had drove me up to see my Grandfather who lived up North. He had a huge pond in the back with tons of salmon in it.

While my Grandfather and Mom were talking, I went down to the pond to look at the fishes with my Grandfather's chocolate lab, Coco, following behind me. I went out on the little dock there and wanted to look down at the fishes. The water was too murky though so I tried leaning in to get a better look.

I must have leaned in too closely though because before I knew it I was in the water. My head popped back up and I gasped for air as I thrashed around. "Help!" I screamed before going back down.

My Mom and Grandfather were yelling my name as they started to run down towards the pond. Every time I went up for air, I quickly went down. I was coughing and crying for help, not sure on what to do.

Suddenly, I heard a splash from right behind me. Something got right under my arm and lifted me above the water. I looked over to see that Coco had gotten under my arm and was taking me to shore. He kept pushing me up to shore until I was able to walk out of the water.

Mom quickly picked me up and held me closely. "Are you ok?!" she asked me.

I nodded and then looked down at Coco. He sat at Mom's feet with his tongue sticking out and his tail wagging behind him. It was like he was asking, "Did I do a good job?"

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Later that day, Mom had called Dad and told him what had happened. Grandfather told me that Coco more and likely thought that I was some toy in the water or something and that's why he had saved me. He also said I was lucky that Coco hadn't bitten my arm or something.

After dinner, I went over to Coco, who was on the floor, and hugged him tightly. He, in turn, licked my face.

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5 years later

I hadn't seen Coco in 5 years and I was excited to see him.

When the car pulled into my Grandfather's driveway, I jumped out of it. "Coco!" I called.

What followed was the sound of paws running towards me and being tackled by a full-grown chocolate lab who was bigger than me. Coco kept licking my face over and over again with happiness.