It’s true: dogs offer nothing but enormous amounts of unconditional love. It doesn’t matter if you’re not wearing makeup, if you lost your job, or if you canceled plans with your friends — if you have a dog, they are going to love you no matter what.

A dog is a man’s best friend, after all.

This one man’s “best friend” recently transformed into a full-on hero when he saved his owner’s life. The man is an unnamed 63-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, and his pup is a German Shepherd named Heidi.

Heidi’s owner’s life was threatened when his boat sank off the coast, and the Queensland Police News reported more information on the event.

It all went down on Thursday, February 20. That was when the Moreton Bay, Australia police department received word that a fisherman had seen Heidi swimming in the bay alone.

The fisherman could tell that a boater was in trouble by the objects that were floating around Heidi’s neck with her in the water. She was swimming with a tackle box, a fuel tank, and a wetsuit among other things — it’s a lot for a dog to be carrying, but she was clearly trying to save a life.

After getting the word, the police arrived immediately and pulled Heidi out of the water and sent her to the local vet to get checked out. While she was getting checked, the Brisbane Water Police began a search to rescue Heidi’s owner, still not knowing where he was located.

The search included, “The Rescue 500 helicopter, four police vessels, Marine Safety Queensland jet ski, Volunteer Marine Coast Guard and Volunteer Marine Rescue.” That’s a lot.

As they looked for the man, more objects were found in the water on the way which proved that he was somewhere out there.

He was eventually saved, but it took hours. And when he was found, he was clinging to the side of his overturned, 13.5 foot-vessel. He was located out in Moreton Bay.

“The 63-year-old-man was rescued, and he told police that the boat lost power the evening before and began to take on water,” ABC News reported.

It was noted that after the boat lost power, it seems like the owner, his equipment and Heidi all became separate. He was holding onto Heidi along with the rest of his stuff until she eventually drifted away.

When Heidi separated from her owner, she paddled away and ended up paddling for about 11 hours before being spotted by the fisherman.

Thankfully, the vet said that Heidi was fine and her owner should be a-okay, too. After being checked out, Heidi was treated to some much-deserved, delicious food. That’s what she deserves at the very least!

What happened to Heidi and her owner is scary, but their strength is so admirable. The fact that Heidi paddled for 11 hours and her owner stayed hanging onto his boat for the same amount of time… It just shows that neither of them was ready to give up. They fought for their lives!

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Source: Queensland Police News / Animal Channel