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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Simon McCarthy

Beloved family dogs Kaos and Paisley's epic swim and rescue from Swansea Channel island

The pair were spotted on the lam, paddling through the waters at Swansea and were eventually rescued from an island in the channel.

This is a story about a dog called Kaos.

Kaos is a 14-year-old white labrador with a big, kind smile, who has lived with Hunter man Michael Rose since he was a puppy.

Paisley is Kaos' other half - an eight year-old Dalmatian-Boxer cross who follows Kaos everywhere.

They're home dogs, with big hearts, loved by Mr Rose and his daughter, Skye. They like to spend their days in the back yard and to come inside at night and, most of the time, they are very well behaved.

"They're like a couple," Skye said this week, "They have been together for many many years. They're well-behaved dogs, but they got reckless."

Mr Rose has been moving house, and Kaos decided that he was in the mood for a swim in the lake at Swansea.

Beloved family pets Paisley and Kaos have survived an epic adventure and rescue after escaping their backyard, and have returned home thanks to the efforts of a local good Samaritan.

"This is the first time it had happened," Mr Rose said, "And I think the Lab's love of water; he's instigated the whole thing and Paisley has followed along."

As soon as Mr Rose found the pets missing, he phoned his daughter to tell her the news. He spent the next several hours circling the local neighbourhood searching for them, as Skye put her first post on Facebook in the hope someone may have seen the pair on the lam.

"And then it exploded," Mr Rose said, "People were going out ... I was driving around looking madly for these dogs; I went up every street in Swansea, but absolutely nothing. It came to late at night, about 9pm, and I couldn't see them. Meanwhile Skye was talking to a young bloke on the website who had took it upon himself to jump in his boat and go looking for them."

Kaos, the ringleader, has been with his family since he was a puppy, pictured here with a young Skye Rose who posted a call for help on the local Lake Macquarie Locals Facebook group when the pair of adventuring pups went missing.

By chance, a few hours before, a couple of kayakers had spotted the runaways paddling across the lake near the back of the Swansea Fisherman's Co-Op, which had the search parties thinking the pair may have made it to one of the islands across the channel, but were too exhausted to swim back.

The young bloke Mr Rose had mentioned, was Joel Nancarrow, who set off in his boat late on Monday night to join the search.

It was around 11pm when Mr Rose got the phone call: Kaos and Paisley were found. They were exhausted, and wet, but they had made it to the island. They were a little timid to approach Mr Nancarrow, but after some coaxing, he managed to get Kaos onto the boat and ferry him safely back to shore. Paisley needed some more encouragement.

Kaso, who has escaped his epic ordeal relatively unharmed, was ferried back to shore and safety by local man Joel Nancarrow to searched through the night.

"I was in bed when I got the call from Joel," Mr Rose said. Skye had been calling through the day to check on the search, but as they lost the light, Mr Rose had determined to pick up the search in the morning. "I jumped out of bed, it was past 11pm, and I drove down from Raymond Terrace to Swansea. He met me at the back of the Co-Op and we tracked across in his boat.

"We got a distance (from the island) and had to get out and walk through the water to find Paisley sitting on the island.

"I carried her to the boat, as she wasn't able to walk well."

The pair were exhausted after their adventure, but have since returned home safe and are recovering.

Paisley had taken in an amount of salt water in her ordeal, Mr Rose said, and has been recovering at home. She has been taking food and plenty of fresh water as she recovers.

Kaos seems to have escaped his epic adventure mostly unharmed.

Skye, who was relieved to know the pair had been rescued, said she was overwhelmed by the effort the community had undertaken to bring the pair home. The posts, which included scenes of the rescue, have been shared countless times in the local group, with an outpouring of gratitude for Mr Nancarrow's efforts.

"I feel very grateful that there are very nice people out there who are willing to do things for others," Skye said in thanks, "I got a call from dad about 11.30pm saying that they had been found, and I immediately texted Joel to say thank you so much."

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