Zion, the yellow Labrador retriever credited with plucking a boy from the Roaring Fork River 10 days ago, practically needs his own press agent these days – but hardly anything else.
Since his heroic swim out to 8-year-old Ryan Rambo, who grabbed the roughly 80-pound dog’s collar and was dragged to shore after getting flipped from a raft, Zion and 13-year- old owner Chelsea Bennett have become local heroes in Glenwood Springs and national celebrities.
In Touch, Ladies Home Journal and People magazines have called, as have the National Enquirer and “The Late Show With David Letterman.”
Pet-supply firms have sent care packages and dog treats. The Garfield County sheriff, the American Humane Association and the American Red Cross all want to issue special commendations.
“To get that kind of recognition, no, I never expected that,” said Chelsea’s mother, Robin. “For it to go beyond Glenwood and become national news is just amazing. I am very proud of Zion and very proud of Chelsea. … I think it’s just great that people recognize that.”
A Front Range dog trainer has offered two weeks of free boarding and obedience training for Zion after reading comments that the energetic 2-year-old is notoriously untrained.
“Everybody here thought it was pretty neat,” said Ron Bruce, trainer at Tenaker Pet Care in Highlands Ranch. “We just want to get him trained now.”
Zion and Chelsea were playing along the banks of the fast- flowing river on May 14 when Ryan – whose birthday is Thursday and who was initially incorrectly identified by authorities as being 9 years old – came floating by in his life vest, growing hypothermic and meekly shouting “Help.”
Chelsea said Zion swam out to investigate, and then she called the dog back to shore with 58-pound Ryan, who had been in the water an estimated 20 minutes, clinging to his collar.
“I’m just glad that something like this could happen,” Chelsea said. “The kids at school think it’s pretty amazing. I’ve been telling them how David Letterman has been calling and People magazine, and they keep telling me: ‘Do it!”‘
Kathryn Jahnigan, spokeswoman for the American Humane Association in Denver, said she read the story of Zion to her mother and had her almost in tears – affirmation of the organization’s desire to give the dog its Golden Paw award for valor.
The American Red Cross chapter in Denver similarly wants to honor Zion and Chelsea next March at its heavily attended annual “Breakfast of Champions,” at which recipients are awarded Wheaties boxes bearing their likenesses, spokesman Robert Thompson said.
Perhaps the most heartwarming response, the Bennetts said, was a handwritten letter sent to Chelsea’s school from an Aspen resident whom they’ve never met indicating that he had nominated Zion for a Carnegie Hero Fund medal.
“Zion, you are one brave dog,” the letter read. “I don’t know if they make a choice for heroic animals. … I’ve enclosed some doggie biscuits just in case they don’t recognize the feat.”
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
