A blind old Border Collie named Fly had been playing with his owner on a beach earlier this week when disaster struck in the most peculiar way – the senior dog suddenly leapt into the ocean and started swimming for the horizon.

55-year-old Mark Cowing had been visiting Lepe Beach in Hampshire, England with Fly on holiday. When they were spending time on the sand, he was bewildered by his canine companion running into the surf.

"We were literally playing on the shoreline when all of a sudden he took it in his head to swim to the Isle of Wight," Cowing told BBC. "When he got 20 or 30 feet out I had to strip off, down to my underpants, and go and rescue him.

"He disappeared out of sight so I presumed he drowned. I tried to wave for help but I thought I was a goner," he added.

Luckily, a 71-year-old man in a kayak came to Cowing's rescue and brought him back to shore. Without any sign of his beloved pup, however, Cowing feared the worst.

As fate would have it, a helicopter flying overhead finally spotted the dog 656 feet (200 meters) away from the shore. After directing a rescue lifeboat to the dog's location, a crew member was able to jump into the water and haul Fly to safety. The crew says that – judging by Fly's swimming – they "arrived just in time."

Cowing, who was overwhelmed with relief at the return of his 12-year-old pup, said that the exhausted Border Collie ended up scarfing down four packets of food and a pork pie upon returning home.

"I was in tears when I saw him, he's my boy," Cowing told the news outlet. "I just felt a complete and utter idiot for what I did."

Cowing now wants to track down the kayaker who saved his life so he can thank him for the rescue.

Be Sure And Share This Pawesome Rescue Story With Your Friends – Photo by Emma Cowing