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Ocean Ridge community policing officer Debra Boyle holds Remy, the 9-year-old German shepherd she rescued from the Intracoastal Waterway. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Ocean Ridge officer honored for rescuing German shepherd that fell into waterway

By Joe Capozzi

Not long after the rains stopped, another intruder dropped in from the sky.
A pesky pelican, as other pelicans had been doing about every other day for the past several years, settled onto the top of a wooden post on the dock behind Bill Wright’s home on the Intracoastal Waterway in Ocean Ridge. 
And once again, “the boys,’’ as Wright refers to his two adult German shepherds, weren’t pleased. 
The big dogs, who take pride in patrolling the backyard, responded the same way they had to previous pelican intrusions: Gunner, 10, hanging back and barking; Remy, 9, giving chase across the tiled patio next to the dock and sea wall. 
The previous encounters always ended with Remy, on full charge toward the dock, slamming on the brakes as the startled bird flew away. 
But this time, on the morning of Jan. 11, the rain added a slick, unfortunate twist that would prompt a call for help to Ocean Ridge’s finest. 
“Remy runs out, he puts the brakes on, but the brakes did not work because it was all wet,’’ Wright recalled. “He flew 20 to 25 feet straight into the water.’’
Although Remy is a dog of many talents — including an ability to open and close door latches — swimming is not one of them. He managed to paddle his way back toward the sea wall but got stranded under the dock, unable to reach safe ground. 
Wright, who was reading a newspaper when he heard the loud splash, tried to coax Remy to safety with treats. But the frightened dog kept treading water. 
“I thought, ‘What in the heck am I gonna do?’’’ said Wright, whose wife died in October. “I’m 80 years old. I can’t go into the water.’’
He called the police. 
Within minutes, three officers were in his backyard searching for the source of the desperate yelps echoing across the water.
“The first officer to arrive tells me, ‘The dog’s under the dock. I don’t know how we’re going to get down there,’’’ recalled community policing officer Debra Boyle, who was the third officer to arrive.
Boyle, a dog lover who owns a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and a German shepherd-Lab mix, said Remy’s cries for help emboldened her to act. 
“It was more of a scared howl,’’ she said. “If you heard it, it just went through your body. I was like, ‘I’ve got to get in there. I’ve got to help this dog.’’’
Without saying a word, Boyle removed her gear, kicked off her boots and jumped into the water. Doing her best to walk near the base of the sea wall, she waded waist-deep toward the German shepherd, not sure how the dog would react when she got close.
“He was in open water and he was just in distress. He was trying to keep himself up,’’ she said. “I thought, ‘I am going to save this dog whether he bites me or he doesn’t.’’’
As she got closer, she talked to Remy in a calm, low voice.
“I just kept telling him, ‘It’s all right. You’re a good boy,’’’ she recalled. “Then I put my hand out and just grabbed his collar and pulled him back over to” a floating dock. 
Remy, who was uninjured, shook the water from his fur and sprinted up a ramp to the patio, where he was welcomed back by Wright and Gunner. 
“He went to his owner and I walked to my car,’’ Boyle said. “I did what I needed to do and I went back to the station, took a shower, got dressed and went back on duty.’’
Nearly two months later, Boyle was ordered to attend the March 7 Ocean Ridge Town Commission meeting, where Police Chief Richard Jones publicly recognized her for rescuing Remy. 
As a token of his appreciation, Wright donated a boat to the Police Department. Jones said the boat, a 14-foot hard-bottom inflatable with a water jet engine similar to a water scooter, would be used for patrols and rescues on the Intracoastal.
Mayor Kristine de Haseth said she wants the boat to be named The 4 Paws.
Wright said Boyle exemplifies why he believes Ocean Ridge police officers “are beyond normal police officers. She just kicked her boots off, went in the damn water; there were no questions and she brought him right out. She just did it. She saved him.’’