Dog Swims 6 Miles And Walks 12 More To Find Family After Falling Off Boat


A 10-month old Belgian Malinois named Rylee had quite the ordeal to find her family. After falling off of a boat, the puppy swam six miles and walked about 12 miles before finding the family. She was determined to make it back to them after falling into Lake Michigan.

It all began when Edward and Kristin Casas took a quiet boat ride on the lake. A few miles offshore, their boat broke down. Kristen was in the cabin while Ed went to the boat to fix things. There were some electrical problems, so they decided the best thing to do was divide and conquer.

Each thought that Rylee was with the other. A couple of minutes later, they searched for the puppy. They, they realized she was nowhere to be found.

They quickly put out a mayday to enlist other boaters that were out. For hours, they scoured the waters. A number of boaters as well as the Coast Guard were helping to search for the dog.

Lynn Fiedor found out what happened because her husband was one of the fishermen enlisted to help find the dog. She runs a social media page called Lost Dog Search Team. She posted a search. It didn’t take long for hundreds of people to say that they were going to keep an eye out for the dog. Over 20,000 people ended up looking at the post.

One boater finally came forward and said that they pulled Rylee from the lake. They dropped her onto a nearby Empire Beach. The family had renewed hope of finding their dog. News came the following day that the puppy was spotted in the nearby woods over by Platte River Campground.

Kristin and Ed drop out to the woods and called out for Rylee. Their optimism grew by the minute. It only took about 15 minutes to find the dog once they got there. Soon, Rylee was reunited with her family. As Lynn Fiedor said, “We have a happy ending.”

A local news station was able to report on what happened. The couple is thrilled to have Rylee back in their home. They can look back and see what they could have done differently. However, the dog managed to persevere. It was a lot of swimming and a lot of walking, but the dog found her family. It could have ended so much worse and we’re glad that everything turned out okay.


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