Sophie Tucker, back home

Sophie Tucker, a cattle dog, was out on the family boat with her owners, Jan and Dave Griffith, when the weather turned bad. In a horrifying moment, Sophie was swept overboard.

The Griffiths, unable to find her, thought she was lost forever. Unknown to them, Sophie had swum 6 miles to an island, where she survived for four months on baby goats.

Residents of that island and another nearby one both spotted her, but thought she was a feral dog. They notified authorities, who caught her with a baited trap.

Sophie’s family heard that a dog had been found, and met the boat at the dock. When Sophie heard her name, “she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us,” Mrs. Griffith said. “She wriggled around like a mad thing.”

Sophie had developed some wildness after four months on her own, but the Griffiths say she has readjusted and is happy to be home.