--- description: A dog that fell overboard while boating with its owners in Michigan swam and walked nearly 20 miles before being reunited with its family title: This Dog Swam 6 Miles to Find Her Owners After Falling Off a Boat image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c782bdf25f0a166/6988a45e0b72e3a5886ead94/dog-overboard.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Dog Swam 6 Miles to Find Her Owners After Falling Off a Boat  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2016 2:35 PM CUT  Facebook  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2016 2:35 PM CUT A dog that [fell overboard](http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/dog-swims-miles-reunite-family-falling-off-boat/story?id=41752560 "undefined") while boating with its owners in Michigan swam and walked nearly 20 miles before being [reunited](http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/dog-lost-lake-michigan-social-media-391819411.html "undefined") with its family. Edward Casas, 56, and his 49-year-old wife Kristin Casas, sobbed and held their 10-month-old puppy [Rylee](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1326391704052744&set=a.1131384733553443.1073741827.100000457822092&type=3&theater "undefined") after the Belgian Malinois managed to swim more than six miles back to shore and walked more than 12 miles through the woods to a campground, according to ABC News. “Let me tell you, I’m not the kind of guy that cries — but, oh, did this make me cry,” Edward Casas told ABC. “I am so proud of this dog.” Rylee accidentally found herself in the middle of Lake Michigan on Sunday after the family’s boat encountered a mechanical issue, the Illinois couple said. “Our hearts just sank,” Edward Casas said. A day later, campers said they spotted a dog wandering through the woods. Edward Casas and his wife were alerted and rushed to the area, thanks to the help of a local lost dog rescue group. The puppy, in training to be a search-and-rescue dog, popped out of the woods after the couple started squeaking one of her favorite toys. \[[_ABC_](http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/dog-swims-miles-reunite-family-falling-off-boat/story?id=41752560 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4474072/dog-swims-falls-boat-family-michigan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4474072/dog-swims-falls-boat-family-michigan/"},"headline":"This Dog Swam 6 Miles to Find Her Owners After Falling Off a Boat","datePublished":"2016-08-31T14:35:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:06:24.512Z","description":"The puppy swam more than six miles back to shore and walked over 12 miles","url":"https://time.com/4474072/dog-swims-falls-boat-family-michigan/","keywords":["animals","Michigan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c782bdf25f0a166/6988a45e0b72e3a5886ead94/dog-overboard.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c782bdf25f0a166/6988a45e0b72e3a5886ead94/dog-overboard.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dog-overboard","caption":"","creditText":"Facebook","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4474072/dog-swims-falls-boat-family-michigan/","name":"This Dog Swam 6 Miles to Find Her Owners After Falling Off a Boat"}}]}] ```