'A wonderful dog': Windsor mother-son duo rescue dog from Detroit River

Windsor resident Mary Beth Lemire was taking her dog for a late-night walk on Sunday along the Detroit River when she heard frantic barking. 

"I thought that maybe there was somebody in the river and that the dog was barking at the edge of the river," she said. "I didn't know."

Feeling compelled to act, Lemire rushed home and alerted her son Dustin. 

"We're the kind of people that reach out and do things instead of just sitting back and watching," she said. 

The two grabbed a flashlight and some rope, and returned to the river. 

"We found a dog on top of the ice and we got to catching it," said Lemire. 

Though the dog was baring its fangs, Lemire said the animal also had its tail between its legs. 

"He just wanted help, but he was just really nervous of who we were," she said. 

Lemire's son was able to calm the dog by petting it, ultimately allowing the mother-son duo to successfully rescue the animal from the river's cold waters. 

"My son had a shirt, so he grabbed his shirt and put it around the dog so we could lift it up," Lemire said. 

Once safe on land, Lemire said the animal's entire personality changed.

"He ran right up to me and gave me the biggest kiss," she said. "He was saying thank you to everybody that was there. He was so happy to be out of the water at that point, he was not angry at all anymore."

Police and representatives from the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society soon arrived. 

"The humane society came and took [the dog] to get warm and feed him for the night," said Lemire.

Lemire posted a short version of the evening's events to Facebook, along with photos of the rescued pup. 

"I want him to go home to his regular owner," she said, adding that she shared the post in Detroit as well, in case the dog swam across the river. 

Lemire described the animal as a "very great dog."

"He is totally trained. He knew how to sit, how to lay down, how to stay," she said. "He loved giving kisses."

Listen to Mary Beth Lemire's interview with Afternoon Drive host Chris dela Torre:

Lemire added that the dog was very thin and "had a little bit of a hair condition."

"Other than that, he was a great dog," she said. "He deserves a great home."