In certain cases dogs have helped to save the lives of their masters, or have attempted to save them.
In one such case, a dog's master had fallen from a kayak in the middle of the Rhine and struggled against the current:
"In my sad situation, I saw my friends running toward me with my dog, who was pulling at them and barking very loudly. They asked if she had a problem, because suddenly the dog had begun to tear her leash and wanted to head down to the river….at the exact moment that I was about to give up my struggle with the water".