Thanks to those of you who updated everyone that the puppy was fine-- just one puncture would, yet the hero old guy's hands were pretty cut up.

Agreed you don't let any animals loose next to a any pond or water area in FL. In my neighborhood in Estero before I moved in there was a cat and a dog eaten by alligators. Both times, the owner's fault. If I recall, one was on a dog tie-out cable which should be illegal here, not only due to alligators, but due to the brutal heat, esp in the summer.