Daisy the Dog swam to shore after the boat she was in sank during a storm on December 11, 2014. (CBS) Daisy the Dog swam to shore after the boat she was in sank during a storm on December 11, 2014. (CBS)

SAUSALITO (KPIX 5) — A Sausalito man whose home on the water sank during last week’s brutal storm was reunited with his dog that somehow survived the sinking, and swam to shore, walked to a church, and waited for her owner.

Steve Alioto had everything he loved on the boat in Sausalito, anchored in the bay because he couldn’t afford dock fees. He returned to the boat after helping a friend during Thursday’s storm to find his home had sunk.

“All I saw was the mast sticking out of the water,” Alioto said.

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Also on board was Steve’s constant companion, Babe, who he had renamed Daisy. “I’m big daddy Kibbles and Bits. I’m the guy who provides the dog food, the walks, the baths, and everything that she tells me she needs.”

Steve thought she had gone down with the ship, but the big brown and white pit bull had escaped and found her way to shore.

After swimming a mile and a half in the dark and stormy waters Daisy found a church where she and Steve sometimes get a free meal. Steve happened to be there Friday after the storm, and Reverend Paul Mowry of the Sausalito Presbyterian Church recognized the two peas separated from their pod.

“Paul came up to me and said, ‘Is your dog’s name Babe?’ I said it was [before she was renamed]. He said, ‘On the chip for her, is that still her name?’ I said yeah. He goes, ‘She’s alive.’ And I cried so hard,” Alioto told KPIX 5.

Daisy and Steve are now homeless, staying on a friend’s boat for the time being.

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