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Many parents give pets to their sons and daughters to teach responsibility. Not many parents can say their offspring fought an alligator to save a pet.
Pat and Beth Dupuy can.
Their 17-year-old, Jean Pat, jumped into waist-high water in a ditch Saturday to get his long-haired dachshund, Guitara, away from a 6-foot alligator.
Guitara didn’t make it. Neither did the alligator, which was rounded up and put down by animal control authorities the next day.
The Dupuys are religious, and Beth Dupuy said the incident made her think of the Bible story about David the shepherd boy.
“I always told him God had something for him,” she said. “I think it was at that point that he saw there was some truth to it.”
Guitara had been a present to Jean Pat from a grandparent 11 years ago. The boy and the dog grew close.
“They both had similar personalities, except when she was barking all the time,” Beth Dupuy said. “They’re both pretty laid back and chill. …
“She loved the outside and so does Jean Pat, so they were always outside together. She liked to follow everyone. She’d follow me.”
Guitara, also known as WahWah, often stayed next to Jean Pat as he did his homework, and sometimes napped in a hammock in his room in their Cypress Gardens subdivision home. Sometimes Guitara followed Jean Pat to baseball games and ended up in a Tiger Diamond dugout.
The dog had been hit by a car a few years ago, and she was getting on in dog-years. But Beth Dupuy said Guitara was able to keep up with her on a four-mile run recently. She also liked to hang out near the entrance to Cypress Gardens during the day, entertaining the neighbors as she went from tree to tree chasing squirrels.
On Saturday, Jean Pat was fishing in the ditch that runs between Cypress Gardens and Marquis Manor. He said Guitara was playing nearby. At one point she fell into the ditch, Jean Pat said, and he had to pull her out because the banks are steep.
About a half-hour later, “I hear her yell, and I hear a splash,” Jean Pat said. “I ran down the ditch.”
He dove into the water near the splash, and as he came up, he saw Guitara’s nose sticking out of the water.
“I got her, and the alligator has her leg,” Jean Pat said. “I dropped WahWah. I put my hand in its mouth.
“This part’s a little blurry,” he said.
The gator never really bit him, but it did try to get away.
“I tried to get my hands around his neck,” Jean Pat said. “But he’s thrashing around too much. Then he started twisting, and he got away.”
The Dupuys reported the incident to the city to protect children who might be playing in the ditch.
Guitara died later that Saturday. Some of the neighbors came by to share the mourning. Beth Dupuy and Jean Pat had a chance to talk about it, too.
“A lot of people are gifted in a lot of areas,” Beth Dupuy said. “God gave him a special gift. We had a nice talk afterward when we were lying in the grass with the dog.”

After two early long touchdown passes got things going for the offenses in the Nicholls State University football team’s spring game, the defenses took over the rest of the day, including a game-changing interception in the final minutes, as Red rallied for a 14-10 victory against the White Saturday at John L. Guidry Stadium.
With White holding a 10-7 lead in the fourth, the White defense came up big in the red zone as Jonavon Lewis intercepted a pass at the 3 to prevent Red from tying or taking the lead.
But, three plays later, Red’s Anfernee Poindexter stepped in front of a Chase Fourcade pass at the 31 and returned it to the 1-yard line, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Kyran Irvin with 1:50 remaining.
The Red defense then forced a turnover on downs before White burned all three timeouts to get the ball back with 55 seconds remaining.
Starting from its own 29, Fourcade led White to a first down before a Hail Mary into the end zone on the final play was batted down by the Red defense to preserve the victory.
The White defense three intercepted three passes and recorded two sacks. Corey Abraham led the white squad with six tackles. Lewis, Jai Knight and Darren Evans each had a pick for White, while Allen Pittman and Terrell Encalade recorded sacks.
For Red’s defense, Nicholls had five tackles for loss, including one sack, from Brandon Fontenot. Along with his interception, Poindexter recovered a muffed punt in the second quarter.
The defenses looked to be in for a long day as both teams scored on lengthy touchdown passes in their first drives. Red’s Charles Brooks found Damion Jeanpiere for a 63-yard strike to start the scoring before White answered on a 41-yard pass from Fourcade to Christian Booker, who led all receivers with three catches for 71 yards.
David McKey capped the scoring in the first with a 26-yard field goal to put White up 10-7.
The defenses pitched a shutout the rest of the way before Irvin scored the go-ahead touchdown for Red in the final minutes.
Irvin led Red with 35 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Brooks was 4-of-12 passing with a touchdown and three interceptions.
Stefano Guarisco and Garret LeBlanc, Central Catholic alumni, were members of the Red squad. Guarisco caught one pass for 5 yards and had one solo tackle. LeBlanc had one reception for 8 yards.
White was led offensively by Donnell Adair with nine carries for 39 yards, and Fourcade finished 10-of-25 passing with a touchdown and an interception.
Aaron McKenney joined Booker with three catches and totaled 27 yards for White.
The Colonels open the 2017 season Aug. 31 against rival McNeese. Season tickets are available by calling the Nicholls Athletics Ticket Office at 985-448-4790.