The cops plunged into a 22-foot. Ferdinandi told PEOPLE that he used a Zodiac boat to get to the dog, who was around 75 yards from shore. They used a rope line to gently encourage the pup to land and hoist him onto a pier behind a house.

“He was exhausted,” Ferdinandi says. “Unquestionably malnourished and hungry.”

For good reason. According to Ferdinandi, Chunk, 3, was playing fetch with owners Marie and James Zangara on June 6 when he allegedly became afraid and ran off into the woods.

According to the trooper, a search campaign using social media, local police departments, baited traps, dog hunters, and trail cameras has been underway since Chunk went away from home on Sunday.

According to Ferdinandi, two joggers on the Mantoloking Bridge noticed Chunk early Tuesday morning; however, when they attempted to grab him, he jumped into the water. By the time he was rescued, he’d swum over two kilometers across the water.

Chunk appeared terrified of the soldiers once they were on land — “he kind of backed away from us,” Ferdinandi says. The two, though, kept Chunk secure by their sides until the dog’s family arrived.

“Seeing their relief that a member of their family was back was incredible, and the dog was glad to see his family as well,” Ferdinandi says.

Koehler, a trooper for 16 years, has a rescue Lab/shepherd mix and understands how terrible it would be to have a dog gone for up to two weeks. “I absolutely get it,” he says.