Family dog lives four months in wild

BRISBANE, Australia, April 7 (UPI) -- An Australian family said a pet dog that fell overboard from a yacht survived by swimming 5 nautical miles and feeding on wild goats for four months.

Jan and Dave Griffith said they were cruising off the east coast of Australia on their yacht in November when their cattle dog, Sophie Tucker, fell overboard in rough waters, The Times of London reported Tuesday.

The Griffiths said Sophie apparently swam through shark-infested waters to St. Bees Island, where she lived for four months feeding on feral goats before reports of a cattle dog on the island reached the canine's family.

Jan Griffith said she contacted park rangers who captured the dog and arranged a reunion for last Thursday.

"We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us. She wriggled around like a mad thing," she told The Times. "She surprised us all. She was a house dog and look what she's done. She's swum over 5 nautical miles, she's managed to live off the land all on her own. We wish she could talk, we truly do."