Lost Dog Rescued Nearly 4 Miles Offshore in Lake Michigan

A family in west Michigan has some good karma coming their way after rescuing a dog nearly four miles offshore in Lake Michigan while out on a boating trip.

According to WOOD-TV, the family was about eight hours into their 12 hour boat trip from Grand Haven to Frankfort when Jeannie Wilcox said she noticed a “red animal” swimming in the water and started screaming, ‘dog in the water!'”

They worked together to get the dog onto the swim platform on the back of the boat and dried her off, Wilcox told WOOD-TV.

“We brought her up on our swim platform really easily. We dried her off. She was obviously scared and cold,” she explained.

Wilcox estimates the dog had been swimming in the water for at least an hour before the family miraculously crossed paths with her. She said once the dog was on board, they traveled another 4 hours to Belmont to have the dog’s microchip scanned. The owners were eventually located and reunited with their dog.

“I just hope that if this was my dog, somebody would do the same for me,” Wilcox said. “I would just be very grateful, happy because I know how rough Lake Michigan can be.”

OutdoorHub Editor: Keenan Crow

Keenan Crow is an outdoor writer who graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in journalism and creative writing. He has been writing for OutdoorHub for nearly five years, but anybody he is close with will tell you he has been telling hunting stories for far longer. He uses his experiences outdoors to write about things he loves - bow hunting, fishing, upland hunting, shed hunting, turkey hunting, waterfowl hunting, dog training, shotguns, ATVs and the outdoor lifestyle he lives in his home state of Michigan. Outside of hunting/fishing, he also loves to cook - especially with wild game - play golf and go on hikes with his yellow lab, Stella.