Jeff Puckett, a husband and father of two who was a volunteer firefighter for five years, was attempting to save his family's 14-year-old border collie, Bear, Sunday after the nearly blind and deaf canine accidentally walked into a well, the Springfield (Ill) State Journal-Register reported Monday.

"I just had shoulder surgery in September, too, so I didn't have enough strength in my right arm to do anything. I was at least 15 feet down, and there was at least 20 feet of water underneath me," Puckett said.

Pawnee Fire Department officials were able to get the man and his dog out of the well safely, the Journal-Register reported.