August 3, 2007: Dog swims 4km daily to feed her pups

[Undertoad]

Spluch notices this awesome Ananova story that must be repeated for a Friday IotD. If the story around yesterday's shot saddened you, and sometimes an IotD will, today's will brighten you.

Huahua the dog pictured above, is mother to a litter of pups. But the location of her litter was unfortunate; when the water level of the nearby river rose, her spot became an island. With no source of food.

So Huahua now swims - off the island to get her food, back onto it to nurse the litter.

Huahua swims 1.2 km to the island every day to nurse her four babies. Then she returns to the Changjiang River, following the flow of the water, to swim another 1.1 km to another part of the city to feed herself.

Each day Huahua does the whole journey twice, once in the morning, around 7 am, and again at 7 pm, at which point she stays with her pups on the island and returns to the city the next morning.

Huang Pingren, a pensioner who swims to the island everyday, says he discovered the amazing dog a few weeks ago. "I was resting on the island, and found the unprotected litter of dogs. Then in the evening, around 7 pm, I saw a dog swimming to the bank and then running to the newborns."

Two days ago, the water rose again, and the mother has moved her children to a higher point on the island, reports Chongqing Evening News.

Judging by the map, she has to take the flow of the river into consideration in order to reach her targets. But she has figured it out. Smart.