By Laura Goldman

While his owners walked him during a family visit to St. Joseph Island, Ontario, on Christmas Eve, a husky mix named Logan ran off along a deer trail. He seemed to disappear without a trace.

Kailaan Walker and Lydia Selin put up posters, posted lost dog notifications on social media and set up a trail camera in their efforts to find Logan. Heartbroken, after the holidays they returned to their home about 450 miles away in Guelph, Ontario, without their beloved dog.

“It was really difficult and I kind of felt hopeless,” Walker told CBC News.

That same night, 11 days after Logan had run away, the couple got a phone call from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in Michigan. “Did you lose your dog?” the caller asked.

Talk about an incredible journey! Logan had traveled 12 miles southwest, crossing a frozen river and the Canada-United States border. He ended up on Michigan’s Lime Island, which is uninhabited.

The crew aboard the USCGC Mackinaw, a 240-foot vessel that breaks up ice in the Great Lakes, had just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

As the icebreaker was approaching Lime Island, “we saw a dog come out towards us on the ice,” Lt. Cmdr. Jayna McCarron told CTV News. “We did see the dog fall in the water and then scramble back up onto the island.”

When the crew saw the dog was wearing a collar, they began their rescue efforts.

Logan, whom McCarron described as very malnourished—”You could see all his ribs and hip bones sticking out,” she told CTV News—was skittish and initially refused to come to the crew members. So they built him a doghouse and started a campfire to keep him protected from the cold. They left macaroni and ribs for Logan to eat.

When the crew returned the next day, Logan was sitting on a pier, waiting for them. They found his owner’s contact information on his collar.

“My brain just couldn’t even comprehend the fact that after this long, someone had actually found him and he was alive,” Walker told CBC News. The morning after Walker got that phone call, he and Selin made the nearly eight-hour drive to Cheboygan, Mich., to meet the USCG crew and reunite with Logan.

“His eyes were wide and his ears were going every which way,” Walker told CBC News. “He came over and it was just surreal. He was so happy to see us. The crew had done such a good job feeding him … and giving him all the attention and love that they possibly could.”

Despite being a castaway for over a week, Logan was in relatively good health. With the advice from a veterinarian, the USCG crew had even bandaged Logan’s paws, which had minor frostbite.

The crew also made Logan an honorary crew member. “Some Coast Guardsmen added a ship’s coin and a cutterman’s insignia to his collar to officially recognize him as part of the crew,” Lt. Carolyn Smith, a public affairs officer aboard the Mackinaw, told Mlive.

After Logan was reunited with his owners, Commander John Stone, the captain of Mackinaw, presented the dog with an “Order of the Great Turtle” certificate. This honor is bestowed upon all departing crew members from the icebreaker.

The Makinaw crew members also deserve special recognition for going above and beyond in their efforts to save Logan’s life.

“I’m feeling so grateful to have gotten Logan back and to meet the crew,” Walker said. “I could tell he was happy to see us, but you could tell there was already a bond between him and the crew.”

For more on this story go to:https://www.care2.com/causes/dog-rescued-from-uninhabited-island-becomes-honorary-coast-guard-member.html