The pup has since been reunited with his thankful owner.
Dylan Berian and his friends were enjoying a day of boating off the coast of Florida when they saw a small dog stranded in the water nearby.
Berian didn’t hesitate and jumped right in with his clothes on. His friends aboard the motorboat near Fort Lauderdale pulled in the dog, who was wearing a collar.
“The dog warmed up to us instantly. As soon as he got on the boat, he was shaking, but after about five minutes, the dog calmed down and seemed quite happy to be on a stable boat rather than getting drowned by waves,” Berian told Inside Edition.
The dog’s name “Zuko” was on his tag, along with his owner’s phone number.
Zuko has since been reunited with his owner and is doing fine.
“They gave us the dog, and I started crying all over again like a crazy person,” Zuko’s owner, Anais Avila, told Inside Edition.
Avila says Zuko was having a great time on her family’s boat when they suddenly realized the pup was gone. He was in the ocean for over an hour before he was rescued by the boaters.
“I’m so grateful for them, because they saved me from such a huge heartbreak,” Avila said.
