FRANKFORT, Mich. (WOOD) — A West Michigan family is rejoicing after rescuing a dog from Lake Michigan. 

Jeannie Wilcox says it happened Friday. Wilcox and her family were on a boating trip from Grand Haven to Frankfort. She says about eight hours into the 12 hour trip, she spotted something strange on the lake. 

“I see this red animal in the lake and I started screaming, ‘Dog in the water!'” Wilcox said as she recounted the rescue. 

Wilcox says the dog was swimming all alone nearly four miles offshore. Wilcox says that’s when her family jumped into action. 

“We brought her up on our swim platform really easily. We dried her off. She was obviously scared and cold,” she said. 

Wilcox says she believes the dog may have been treading water for upward of an hour. She says after getting the dog on board, they traveled another 4 hours to Belmont where they were able to get the dog scanned for a microchip.

They dog’s family was located. The two families met up and returned the dog soon after. 

The Wilcox family says they’re just grateful this story didn’t end another way.

“I just hope that if this was my dog, somebody would do the same for me. I would just be very grateful, happy because I know how rough Lake Michigan can be,” Wilcox said. 

**Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Frankfort. We regret the mistake, which has been fixed.