By Rick Dewsbury


What a catch: Becky, a five-year-old golden retriever, clutches the cod in her mouth after plucking it from the surf at Minsmere Sluice in Suffolk


This golden retriever really is a salty sea dog.

Five-year-old Becky amazed her owner when she went bounding into the sea and returned with a catch that would make most anglers jealous - a sizeable cod.

Tony Smith, 71, had been walking Becky at Minsmere Sluice, near Aldeburgh, Suffolk, when she swam out to sea.

The retired painter and decorator expected his pet to return to the shore with a bit of old driftwood.

Salty old sea dog: Becky drags the cod through the sea.
She occasionally catches jellyfish or picks up driftwood, but this is the first fish she's landed


But he was stunned when Becky came splashing out of the surf with her slippery victim in her jaws.

Mr Smith, from nearby Leiston, said that Becky sometimes catches jellyfish or picks up bits of driftwood. But until now she has never managed to nab a fish.

He said: ‘Becky loves the sea and she’s always in the water. She often brings back things like jellyfish.

‘On this occasion Becky went out and came back with the fish in her mouth.
‘I always have my camera with me so I took a picture.’


Proud owner: Tony Smith, 71, poses on the beach with Becky close to the spot where she made her impressive haul


Unfortunately the fish had been killed after being plucked out of the water, and couldn't be thrown back while it was still alive.

He added: ‘She dropped the fish on the beach and it was dead when it hit the ground. I believe it was a cod.’

Mr Smith, who has three dogs, said Becky’s catch was extremely rare.

‘I showed the photograph to the fishermen at Sizewell and they said they had never seen anything like it,’ he added.


source:dailymail