Quenton and Rebecca Champ have a beautiful view of Lake Houston. They often gaze out at the water, watching the boats and birds peacefully sail by. One day when they were watching the water, they saw a dog paddling far from shore and they knew something was terribly wrong.

From their vantage point, the paddling dog looked desperate so they quickly ran outside and jumped in their boat. Far from shore, they knew it was not possible that the dog had swum there on its own.

They were not the first people to notice the exhausted pup. Their neighbors had also seen the dog and taken their boat out to help. Sadly, were not able to rescue the dog and had returned home without the dog.

Undeterred by this news, the Champs got to the dog as quickly as possible. Once close enough, Quenton leaped from the boat and coaxed the dog toward him. He held a life jacket that he planned to wrap the dog in.

When the exhausted dog was close enough, he worked hard to put the jacket on the terrified dog then guided him toward the boat. All the while Rebecca was encouraging the dog to swim toward her, trying to comfort and persuade him not to give up.

FB|Rebecca Costello Champ (Screenshot)

Once the dog was safe on the boat, the Champ’s son quickly named him Freddy. The dog had no tags so there was no one to call. They took it upon themselves to take Freddy to the vet to be sure he was okay.

Freddy got a clean bill of health but he was also clean of a microchip. The Champs were unable to keep Freddy despite how adorable he was. However, they did agree to foster him until his family could be found or they could find him a home.

No one came for Freddy so they reached out to friends and family who were happy to help the sweet pup find a new family. It didn’t take long before friends of the Champ’s, John and Demetria Hall, saw a video of Freddy and fell in love:

“Once I saw the dog, I fell in love,” said John. “I showed my wife and the kids the video of Quenton rescuing the dog and playing with the dog in the house, and we knew immediately we wanted that dog.”

The feeling was mutual and Freddy fell in love with his new family, too. The happy pup immediately wanted to play. Maybe he knew he was finally, forever home.

Please share this heartwarming rescue story with your family and friends.