You never know what you’ll discover in the water, but one party of boaters was taken aback when they found a puppy, lost and helpless.
Fortunately, they came to the dog’s aid and transported him back to land, where he is now safe.
A young white dog was struggling in the water when it was discovered by a group of friends out on the ocean in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Bryn Crowell, a passenger on the boat, told WSVN, “I observed something in the water and at first I was thinking, like, ‘that sorta looks like a dog.'” “A split second later, it occurred to me that it was a dog.”
They had no choice but to help the sad dog. Dylan Berian, another boater, dragged the dog onto the boat before diving into the sea.
Bryn documented the rescue and shared it in a now-viral TikTok video that has nearly 12 million views:
“You could know he just had the swim of his life,” Bryn tells The Dodo.
The dog was unharmed despite being startled and wet. He was still wearing all of his collars, indicating that he had unintentionally fallen off a boat.
“The dog immediately warmed up to us,” Dylan told WSVN. “It was shivering as soon as it got in the boat, but after about 5 minutes, the dog settled down and seemed quite content to be on a stable boat rather than passing away because of the waves.”
Zuko, the family dog, had accidently fallen off the family boat. The boats were able to locate the family and promptly bring them back to land where they could be reunited with their dog after a terrifying trip.
“I’m incredibly glad for them since they saved me from such a dreadful heartbreak,” said Zuko’s owner.
“We called and could tell they were grieving and upset on the phone conversation,” Bryn told The Dodo. “When we brought Zuko back, we witnessed his owners cuddling him and sobbing.”
Zuko’s unintentional fall from the boat was horrific, but he is now fine, and his family is resolved not to repeat the occurrence. In a later video, Bryn revealed a text message from the owners in which Zuko was wearing a brand-new life jacket.
Even if your dog is an excellent swimmer, ALWAYS wear a life jacket when boating! Bryn wrote it.
We’re very relieved that this dog is safe! Thank you to these boaters for rescuing Zuko and reuniting him with his family!
Watch the video below!