MIRACLES DO HAPPEN

Missing dog found swimming half a mile from the shore is miraculously rescued

 

By Jensen Bird

 

Daily Mail

Nov 29, 2025

 

 

 

Sadie escaped from a San Diego home and found herself stranded in the ocean two miles away 

 

San Diego lifeguards performed an unusual rescue mission when they saved a dog who was stranded in the ocean half a mile from shore. 

Sadie, a black Labrador mix, escaped from a house while her owners were watching a football game. 

Alexis and Brandon were visiting from out of town and hoped to spend their Sunday cheering on the 49ers but Sadie had other plans.

As soon as they noticed that she was missing, the couple tracked Sadie's location using an AirTag attached to her collar, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department explained in a statement.

The couple walked down the beach frantically searching for their lost pup on November 23. 

Around the same time, a surfer reported a black lab in danger nearly two miles away.

He told lifeguards that he'd watched the dog get swept out to sea in a terrifying rip current near South Mission beach. 

'I just had a surfer run up to the truck. He's saying there's a dog that's on the jetty,' one lifeguard reported in dispatch audio. 

 

Sadie was found half a mile off shore by San Diego Fire-Rescue lifeguards after over an hour of searching

 

The lifeguards boarded a US Coast Guard boat and launched a jet ski as they began to search for Sadie, in hopes of recovering her from the tides. 

Over an hour later, Sadie was still nowhere to be found. 

Just when the they were about to give up, lifeguard Jack Alldredge spotted a black, furry creature floundering in the ocean about half a mile off shore.

An exhausted, soaking wet Sadie was transferred to a rescue boat and reunited with her relieved family.

'Right when they were going to call it off...,' recounted Ashley in a video posted by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

'We were literally standing right there with the guy and he got a call on the walkie talkie saying that they had found the dog.' 

 

Her owners Brandon and Ashley began to frantically search using an AirTag they had attached to her collar

Labradors like Sadie tend to have an affinity for the water and have strong swimming instincts 

 

Ashley said they 'held their breath' before receiving the confirmation that Sadie was alive and well. 

She and Brandon immediately began to cry tears of relief knowing that their beloved companion had been saved.

Despite the unwelcome excitement, lifeguards said Sadie was going to be just fine. 

'We huddled up and said there's a good chance that Sadie is still alive,' said lifeguard Garrett Smerdon who was involved in the rescue. 

'Just a five-year-old lab. They're fighters.'

Labradors tend to be good swimmers, according to the ASPCA. 

Their strong instincts in the water help them to stay relaxed for longer than other breeds. 

 

 Though Sadie was exhausted, lifeguards said the brave pup was going to be just fine

Lifeguard Garrett Smerdon (left) said the rescue team knew there was a good chance the dog was still alive. Jack Allderage (right) finally spotted her in the water

 

Ashley and Brandon said they're 'forever grateful and thankful' to San Diego Fire-Rescue for making sure their water-loving dog made it back home in one piece.

As the cherry on top, while Ashley and Brandon frantically searched for Sadie, the 49ers won the game the couple had been watching as the chaos began.

The Daily Mail contacted the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department for further comment.