This pooch doggy-paddled to safety — all the way across the Hudson River!
An adorable puppy was miraculously reunited with his family after wiggling his way out of his collar in Manhattan, tearing through the city on a mile-long jaunt and swimming all the way to New Jersey.
Bear’s impressive saga started Saturday afternoon when the 6-month-old Leonberger Bernese mix puppy broke free from his loose-fitting collar, according to his owner Ellen Wolpin.
Wolpin was walking Bear on the Upper West Side on West 80th Street and West End to get a better-fitting dog harness when he made a break for it.
Bear, who is a seizure-service dog for Wolpin’s 20-year-old developmentally disabled son Zack, started to head back toward his home, but became startled and bolted when a bystander tried to scoop him up, she said.
From there, Bear was on the loose, running about 30 blocks north on the bike trail near the water to 110th Street — where he jumped into the river and started paddling, Wolpin recalled to The Post Tuesday evening.
Another bystander saw Bear begin swimming across to the Garden State, but lost sight of him about three-quarters of the way to the other side, Wolpin said.
She called 911 and patrol boats scoured the river looking for the dog, but with no luck.
“We didn’t think that he made it across, I was sick to my stomach and just kind of kept hoping that it was a nightmare,” Wolpin said. “On Sunday, I was hoping that I would get a phone call from somebody and then come Monday there’s no way this dog survived and then at 5 o’ clock this morning I got a phone call from the Edgewater Police Department that they had him.”
Edgewater Fire Company No. 1 even posted on Facebook Tuesday morning about finding a pup under a pier at Independence Harbor predawn.
“He did like a full triathlon almost,” Wolpin said. “Because he ran about a mile-and-a-half and then swam about a mile.”
Bear was reunited with his family around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, as first reported by the online news outlet I Love The Upper West Side.
Zack, who kept asking where Bear was after the dog went missing, gave his puppy a heartwarming embrace right away, Wolpin said.
Wolpin picked up a harness first thing in the morning before Bear even returned, and then later purchased a couple others just to make sure at least one of them keeps Bear at bay. Bear was also brought to the veterinarian for a check-up where he was given a clean bill of health.
“We were so happy,” Wolpin said, whose friends keep telling her it’s a Christmas miracle. “This dog has had tons of treats and tons of hugs and we’re just doing everything possible.
“But the first thing we did was give him a bath.”
