The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a dog found swimming at sea

The U.S. Coast Guard was out for some night training off the coast of Fort Myers, Florida, when they received a call about a dog lost at sea and in distress. The pup was doggy-paddling away when the crew found him.

The Coast Guard shared a video of the successful rescue mission on Twitter, and it’s pretty darn a-dog-able.

“What could’ve been a ruff day for this pooch turned out to be quite the tail!” read the Dec. 5 tweet accompanying the clip. “A crew from Station Ft. Myers Beach was out training when they received a call of a pup in distress. They pulled him out of the water and returned him to shore where he was reunited with his family”:

At first, the canine is a bit resistant and even appears to be paddling away from the rescue boat! The finally reel him in, however, and after shaking the water out of his coat a few times, he seems just fine.

“You’re the best person I ever rescued,” says one of the crew members.

Aww, how sweet! I think I’d have to agree that dogs are the best kind of people around.

Thankfully, this rescue mission has a happy ending, too. The dog was identified —  his name is Cash — and reunited with his humans.

“The dog had a collar, so the people that were on base called the vet office with the numbers that were on the collar,” U.S. Coast Guard member Kevin Arariza explained to Fox 4 Now. “They were able to get to the owners.”

The U.S. Coast Guard also shared the video of the rescue mission, along with some photos, on Facebook:

“It was just a fun, really good experience to be able to help him out and the family out as well because obviously no one wants to lose their pet,” Arariza added.

It’s not exactly clear how the pup ended up paddling around in the ocean in the first place, but we’re sure glad that the Coast Guard was there to save the day.

One of the Coast Guard members has been identified as Ryan Brousseau, who told KRCR that Cash was 200-300 yards offshore when they pulled him onto the boat.

That’s no small swim for Cash! Maybe his owners will get him a mermaid life jacket for pups for the holidays, just in case he decides to go out on a dog-paddling adventure again.

Kudos to the Coast Guard for a doggone good rescue! We’re so glad Cash made it home safe and sound.