{"id":15265,"date":"2017-07-28T15:12:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T15:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=15265"},"modified":"2017-07-28T15:12:21","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T15:12:21","slug":"watch-firefighter-rescues-12-year-old-dog-struggling-to-swim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=15265","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Firefighter rescues 12-year-old dog struggling to swim"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WFSB<\/a>) \u2013 Call it Junior\u2019s lucky day.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the nearly 12-year-old Chinese Shar-Pei and Rottweiler mix got lost from his Miami Beach home, fell into Biscayne Bay, was rescued by a firefighter and later was reunited with his owner thanks to some social media magic.<\/p>\n

The rescue and reunion were posted on the Miami Beach Fire Rescue\u2019s Twitter page.<\/p>\n

By then, firefighter Emilio Sanchez had spotted the dog struggling to swim in the water behind a home about a block from its home. Sanchez jumped in and helped the 50-pound dark-haired dog to shore with an assist from other firefighters.<\/p>\n

The story began around 10 a.m. Thursday, when Jose Ruiz was out for a run and got a call from his dad alerting him that Junior, who normally sleeps under a backyard tree until noon, was gone.<\/p>\n

The Miami Herald reports Ruiz raced home, walked through the neighborhood looking for the dog and then drove around to search. Later he posted a photo of Junior on Instagram and printed some fliers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very exhausted, just by the way he was breathing, and he was already barely able to keep his head up out of the water,\u201d Sanchez told WPLG. \u201cSo I pretty much got there in good timing. He was very eager to see me and he was happy I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the video of the rescue HERE\u203a\u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"