Scuba-diving Dachshund

This picture of Boniface, the Russian scuba diving dog, reminds me of something I'd have seen on my favorite 1980s TV newsmagazine show, "That's Incredible!" Professional diver Sergei Gorbunov had the special suit made for his companion. From the Associated Press:

In a recent demonstration, Boniface barked eagerly as Gorbunov readied the equipment and uncomplainingly endured being hung upside-down as Gorbunov fitted the suit on him...
Gobunov says, "Underwater, I don't think he experiences any stress."

"Russian Teaches Dachshund To Scuba Dive"

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Anonymous

jetshred- since it looks like his ears are INSIDE the mask, it may not be necessary. Of course I have NO IDEA of what canine eustacion tubes look like.
Anonymous

the most important point is how to keep the water out of the “mask”. Divers can clear a mask the dog probably can’t. So what happens when the mask fills and unlike in a human who still has a tube of air in their mouth? Not good. Doesn’t seem fair to the dog. He may not mind what has happened up to the moment of failure but there is no way to train him for that. Not fair.

Captcha: under douse. exactly. dousehound
- Brainspore
  
  The dog’s breathing apparatus appears to be more of a diving helmet than a traditional scuba mask. Different rules apply.
Anonymous

Dogs can express themselves just fine. If he’s done it before and doesn’t mind being put into the suit and mask, it didn’t bother him. Compare what happens when someone tries to take a dog to the vet. They know what’s coming and protest.
Anonymous

I have a dog I want to scuba dive with it but it will freak out
macegr

Benji (remember Benji?) did it in 1982.
Anonymous

Anyone who’s ever seen a dog in a car knows that dogs were *made* for scuba diving.

Cats? Not so much.
Felton

Is that the movie in which Benji jumped the shark?
Brainspore

I just hope they took temperature into account when they fitted him with that suit. Wieners have a tendency to shrink in cold water.
Anonymous

I’d be more worried about clearing his “mask”, and he’d have a hell of a time doing hand signals.

~D. Walker
Deidzoeb

How can you tell if the dog would consent to being stuck in all that contraption and submerged underwater?
- LightningRose
  
  You probably don’t have much experience with dogs.
  
  They’ll let you know in no uncertain terms if they don’t want to do something.
  - Deidzoeb
    
    “You probably don’t have much experience with dogs. They’ll let you know in no uncertain terms if they don’t want to do something.”
    
    The kind of thing people tell the judge when getting caught in an act of bestiality.
Anonymous

I never understood this type of behavior. We take the animals from their familiar environments and put them in the last possible place they would want to be. Really, you think the dog wants to scuba dive, or even understands the concept of what is happening? Couple of other examples include a shark tank in the Smokey Mountains (TN). A shark? What do sharks have to do with the mountains? WTF? but the cake is the guy who takes snakes sky-diving. I am not kidding you. See it on youtube. He holds the snakes midway through their body, one in each hand. The snakes flop around real bad, because you know they are plunging towards the ground at 300mph. I sometimes try and imagine the snake’s thought process or reaction in that very moment and it must be indescribable. Snakes like to cling to things and if they were cognizant and could rank their favorite activities, sky-diving would be at the bottom of the list.
jackbird

Oh god, the flashbacks….

(to the tune of “Matilda”:)

â™ª I – don’t – know, â™ª
â™ª I – don’t – know, â™ª
â™ª I don’t know can dog survive, â™ª
â™ª when he takes a dive (ONCE AGAIN!) â™ª
efergus3

Some dogs will do anything to get on TV. Owners too, though I’ld guess it was the dog’s idea.
Church

I know the Daily Mail is anathema, but they have a much better write-up.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1291115/Scuba-Dooby-Doo-Meet-deep-sea-diving-Dachshund-taste-adventure.html
Anonymous

The Daily Mail might have a fuller write-up, but as usual it’s full of the normal bs that you get regards scuba diving.

You don’t use oxygen tanks underwater It’s just normal air compressed, clean and dry. Pure 02 is poisonous if you go much below 9-12 metres.

45 meters is not the maximum depth for human divers at all. 60+ metres on normal air is considered a safe limit, but many people have dived 100m on normal air. Using mixed gases I believe the current record for normal open circuit diving is just over 300 metres
Anonymous

How about kitty scuba?
Anonymous

Yah, sticking a dog’s head in a plastic box then forcing him to go underwater is completely natural. I’m sure he is unstressed and it is physiologically safe for him. What next? Sticking water filled helmets on fish and forcing them to flop around a parking lot?

This guy needs another hobby. Preferably one that doesn’t include any other living things.
LightningRose

In the late 80′s there was a local TV news magazine type show in the SF Bay Area titled “Mac and Mutley”. On at least one occasion Mutley the dog went scuba diving with Mac, her human sidekick.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/scuba-cat.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?blogid=29entry_id=24428&entry_id=29617
JetShred

How can the dachshund clear his ears?
- phisrow
  
  Just whimper sorrowfully until the eardrums pop…