While we have seen Scuba Diving cats and Dogs in the news before, most recently featured in the Press this month, was Boniface the Scuba Diving Dachshund.
Sergey Gorbunov, the owner of the dog, is a professional diver from the Russian coastal city of Vladivostok. The idea to teach his 7 year old dachshund scuba diving occurred when Sergey noticed how Boniface used to get really anxious and upset whenever parted from his owner when he went diving. So Sergey had a diving suit complete with helmet made especially for the family dog and began to teach it to scuba dive.
With a Helmet of Plexiglas and a Marine styled striped wetsuit was produced by a Korean manufacturer, this dog is dressed to dive. Sergey himself designed the scuba gear system and tested the breathing apparatus to ensure reliability. Gorbunov, himself is director of diving at Vladivostok Maritime College, says that with a little time and training, Boniface will soon be able to dive up to 45m. Currently he has undergone trials in various pools and a couple of open water dives at shallow depths and is said to be getting used to the suit.
Boniface initially on submerging underwater was a little uncomfortable and emitted some squealing sounds, but as it could see its owner alongside it through the Plexiglas helmet, soon calmed down. Sergey says the biggest discomfort Boniface may feel on his dive training would be overcoming the discomfort caused due to increased pressure.
While still in its early stages of scuba training, Sergey is confident that it will be able to master the sport in time and go down in the record books as a scuba diving dog.
