Scuba Dooby Doo: Meet the deep sea diving Dachshund with a taste for adventure

By Sara Nelson

Intrepid: Boniface the Dachshund is helped into his suit so he can join his owner Sergei Gorbunov under the sea


A Russian diving team has a brand new recruit - in the form of a miniature Dachshund.

The maritime mutt is seen here taking the plunge with his owner in a specially-built wet suit and breathing mask.

Boniface was kitted out with the suit by his owner Sergei Gorbunov, who is a professional diver.


Adventurous: The suit comes with a special plexi-glass mask so the maritime mutt can see where he's going


Gorbunov claims that whenever he went diving without Boniface in the past, the dog would become upset, so he decided to solve the problem by taking him too.

A South Korean company agreed to make the purpose-built suit and now the intrepid divers are set to spend hours under the waves near Vladivostok, Russia.

Complete with oxygen tank and plexi-glass mask, Boniface has so far worn the suit in a series of trials in deep water pools - with a little encouragement in the form of sausages.


Man's best friend: Gorbunov decided to get the suit built because Boniface would become upset when he and his team went diving without him


Gorbunov, who is director of diving at Vladivostok Maritime College, said: 'We created the suit for my pet Boniface.

'He always worries when divers disappear under the water so for his sake we have had a special doggy diving suit made, complete with an oxygen tank.

'We think the experiment has been a great success, Boniface felt comfortable under the water but maybe or maybe not because we fed him sausages before and after.'

Sergei said Boniface will be ready soon to dive in open water with the team at depths of up to 45 metres, which is the maximum depth for human divers.



source: dailymail