20/08/2026
A German Shepherd survived roughly 11 hours alone in the water, and finding her would eventually help rescuers realize her owner was still missing at sea.
On February 20, 2020, a fisherman in Queensland, Australia, spotted a German Shepherd named Heidi treading water in Moreton Bay. Floating nearby were a fuel tank, tackle box and wetsuit, signs that immediately suggested something had gone badly wrong.
Heidi was exhausted, but alive. Brisbane Water Police soon launched a search, fearing the debris belonged to a boat in trouble. What rescuers did not yet know was that Heidi's 63-year-old owner had been stranded since the previous evening, after his 4.1-meter boat lost power and began taking on water.
At around 10:25 that morning, rescuers finally located the man near the Brisbane boat passage, clinging to his partially sunken vessel after spending about 15 hours adrift.
Both Heidi and her owner were taken for medical checks and escaped without serious injuries. Police later gave Heidi food while she waited for her owner and even named her an honorary police dog for the day.
Heidi did not physically lead rescuers to him, as some retellings suggest. Her discovery was the crucial warning that helped launch the search.
Sometimes, simply surviving long enough to be found can help save someone else.