Salty Dog

A 2-year-old Labrador named Todd survived an incredible journey home, swimming 10 miles against the current, after falling overboard in one of the busiest sea-lanes in the world.

He was only six miles from his home when the exhausted dog was called ashore by a boy and his grandfather near midnight. Todd joins his owner, Peter Loizou, to discuss the sheer determination of man's best friend on The Early Show.

Louizou, who is a car dealer in Hampshire, on the Southern coast of England, had gone across the water to Cowes, a famous sailing port on the Isle of Wight, with his dog, who has been a fixture on his boat since he was a puppy. Though the dog usually wears life vest, he was not wearing one when he was swept into the sea.

The weather had been choppy and Louizou said he had put the dog below deck. The doors came open and the dog came out and likely slipped overboard. Friends on board noticed a black thing in the water and remarked that it must have been a bit of shipwreck. Later, when the dog's absence was discovered, they realized that the shipwreck was Todd.

Loizou said he frantically searched for his dog for four hours until it was dark, then he gave up hope of ever seeing his pet again.

"I'm not ashamed to say I cried," he said.

Todd, however, was still very much alive and finally got ashore six hours later after swimming 10 miles in the direction of his New Forest home in Hampshire.

A 16-year-old boy and his grandfather, who were walking home at midnight, noticed what they thought was a seal swimming upriver. They called out and the dog swam ashore and fell to its knees. They took him to a vet who noticed the microchip and notified the police who traced the dog to his owner.

Loizou said he and Todd enjoyed a happy reunion.