Moment woman is dragged into river while playing with her excited dog in hilarious video footage

Hilarious video footage shows the moment a woman was pulled into a river by her overly-enthusiastic dog.

Steph Cousins, 35, went for an unexpected swim while playing with her five-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer Winnie.

Video shot by a friend on May 5 shows Steph playing with Winne on a river bank in the Wolfscote Dale area of the Peak District. Holding onto Winne’s lead, she throws a stick into the river for the dog to fetch. However, as Winne swims to the stick, the lead is pulled tight, causing Steph to lose her balance and fall into the river.

After erupting into laughter, Steph asks: "Did you get that on video?" Soaking wet, she is helped out of the water by her friend. Steph sits on the river bank as they continue to laugh about the accident.

Steph, a teaching assistant from Derbyshire, said: "Winnie loves it when I throw sticks in the river. But this is the first time she's taken me in with her! It honestly felt like slow motion. It didn't happen as fast in my head as it did on the video. When my foot first slipped I thought I might be able to save this. But it was too late, and I just thought I'm going in!"