A lost dog from New York is now back with its owners after getting rescued by first responders in New Jersey.

Edgewater police and firefighters got a call just after midnight Tuesday morning from a concerned person near Independence Harbor who heard barking and howling for several hours. The responders then found a Leonberger puppy under the harbor’s pier.

“We don’t really train for that kind of stuff, so you definitely have to improvise,” says firefighter Sevan Shirinian.

The group spent nearly three hours trying to wrangle the 100-pound pup.

"He actually looked good. I mean…you could tell he was a fluffy dog and everything. He looked young. You can tell he was a puppy and then he sat down," says firefighter Thomas Quinton, Jr.

Quinton Jr. says he gave his sweatshirt to the other firefighter who used it to dry the dog off while the dog ate treats.

The service dog is named Bear. It is believed that he found his way off his leash on Saturday on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and that he jumped into the Hudson River and swam away. The swim across the river is just about 1 mile.

"We know how fast the current moves. You will be by our marina for training often and then all of a sudden you look and you're three or four buildings south in a matter of minutes,” Quinton says. “So I'm guessing the current really helped to get the dog across the river."

Edgewater firefighters say that this is the second time over the last several years that they had to rescue a dog under the pier.

Police were able to use the dog’s microchip to return him to his family.