text: What was supposed to be a nice outing off the coast of Noank when Clare Shaw and her family were boating along the Connecticut shoreline turned into a grievous one. 
   
   On June 26, their 8-month-old Shiba Inu puppy got out of his harness and fell into the ocean. 
   
   “After turning around and back tracking for hours, having the coast guard involved, and everyone on shore looking we weren’t able to find our puppy who we thought didn’t know how to swim,” Shaw told WTIC. 
   
   Therefore, the only thing Shaw could think was that her pup lost his life. 
   
   “My family came home and we felt defeated, we packed up his things and lit a candle in his cage and assumed our boy lost his life drowning,” she said. 
   
   Still, trying to be a little hopeful, Shaw took to Facebook, asking if anyone had seen her dog, Ryder. 
   
   Her post was shared over 100 times. 
   
   And then suddenly … 
   
   Phil Q. Bigelow and his pal, Patrick Jullarine, were the ones who rescued the long lost pup. 
   
   Bigelow recalls Sunday’s event: 
   
   So, it started off as a normal day. Myself and my friend, Patrick, were headed out on my boat to fish. We then got a call from our friend, Tommy Nahornick, who was home from the army—also wanting to join in on the fishing trip. We picked him up at a local dock and the three of us who have been friends since 9 years old then headed out from bushy point and pine island for some fishing. About a half mile out, we came to a stop as Patrick and Tom both stood up and asked me ‘Is this a good spot?’ I replied ‘yes’ they asked ‘Are we going to fish here?’ I said ‘no’ and they asked ‘why?’ and I said we have to go rescue this dog first. As we approached the little guy, Tommy, with one first swipe, pulled the little guy in the boat. We dried him off and immediately gave him water. He was shaking and scared. He stayed on the boat with us for the day and warmed up to us in no time. Not knowing his name we quickly decided Nemo was what we will call him considering he was lost and now found. We brought him to the dock then the real work started trying to get him home. Contacted all local agencies and posted to Facebook. My girlfriend and I took a trip to Walmart and bought him some food a collar and toys to make him feel loved until we found his owners. 
   
   Bigelow quickly added that he and his pals are not heroes, instead they did what anyone else would have done. “We were in the right place at the right time,” he said. 
   
   “So happy you got him back!” wrote a Facebook user on the picture of Shaw hugging Ryder, after the two were reunited. 
   
   Bigelow added, “I have seen a lot of crazy things while being out on the boat, but this was #1 so far.” 
   
   As far as Shaw is concerned, she couldn’t be happier. “We are so thankful for his safe return and are so overwhelmed with how many caring people there are in the community,” she told Epoch Times ||||| The pup disappeared without a trace — in the scariest place possible. 
   
   According to FOX 61, who reported the story, a family was boating with their the dog off the coast of Noank, Connecticut, on Sunday when the 8-month-old Shiba Inu slipped out of his harness and into the ocean. 
   
   “After turning around and back tracking for hours, having the Coast Guard involved, and everyone on shore looking we weren't able to find our puppy who we thought didn't know how to swim,” owner Clare Shaw told the station. 
   
   The family feared the worst for Ryder but nevertheless looked to Facebook for a glimmer of hope, sharing a message on the Groton Animals Lost and Found page about the pooch. Meanwhile, as luck would have it, another boater found Ryder and pulled him to safety. 
   
   “Almost 100 shares later, an equine vet saw my post and a post in a Groton lost and found pet group,” Shaw said. The Connecticut veterinarian linked the two Facebook posts and realized someone found the dog missing at sea. 
   
   “We are so incredibly thankful for every single person who has sent prayers and shared my post,” Shaw wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “The power of social media is out of this world. I am happy to say that Ryder has been found in the water at Fisher Island and kindly saved! We are on our way to Mystic right now to get him! Thank you Stacey Golub for making the connection and everyone for bringing our boy home! It is a true miracle.”
target: – Facebook isn't always used for good, but a Connecticut woman whose puppy fell overboard is now giving the social media site a giant "like" after what happened over the weekend. Clare Shaw and her family were out on their boat Sunday outside of Noank when Ryder, their 8-month-old Shiba Inu, somehow broke free of his harness and plunged into the water, per Fox 61. The panicked family, which was under the impression Ryder couldn't swim, called the Coast Guard and backtracked for hours looking for their pup, to no avail. "We felt defeated," Shaw says. "We packed up his things and lit a candle in his cage and assumed our boy lost his life drowning." But Shaw obviously didn't give up hope completely, because she decided to put up a now-deleted post on her Facebook page asking if anyone had seen her precious pup, the Epoch Times reports—and it was after 100 shares or so of that post that the best news ever came her way. A horse vet saw her post, as well as a post in a local lost-and-found group, and put two and two together. Phil Bigelow and Patrick Jullarine, friends since they were 9 years old, had been out boating themselves on Sunday and spotted a "shaking and scared" Ryder in the sea, scooped him out, and nicknamed him Nemo. Bigelow says once he got home, he and his girlfriend picked up some snacks, a collar, and toys for their newfound furry friend "to make him feel loved" until his owners could be tracked down. Shaw calls Ryder's save a "true miracle" and expressed her gratitude on Facebook, via People. "The power of social media is out of this world," she says. (A mom found her long-lost son thanks to Facebook.)