A man struggling in the deep waters of Beltzville Lake on Sunday found an unlikely savior: a very furry, black and white canine.

The rescue was the first for Kelby, a 17-month-old Newfoundland certified in water rescue.

It was also only the second day that Kelby spent on patrol at Beltzville State Park, said her owner, George Abraham, of Thornhurst.

“Kelby has all the best attributes that you would expect from a Newfoundland - gentle, kind, intelligent and loves to work,” Abraham explained.

He and his wife, Kate, run the nonprofit American Academy of Canine Water Rescue. The all-volunteer group trains dogs to work alongside lifeguards and water rescue personnel, and this weekend, it deployed a beach front lifeguard team and water rescue boat at the state park near Lehighton.

Kelby was on the boat with Abraham when they saw two people in the water near a jet ski. One of them couldn’t swim.

“We were able to steady the jet ski and get the driver back on it and he was able to limp it back to the boat launch as it had malfunctioned,” Abraham said. “The passenger had to be brought over to our rescue boat and taken to shore.”

Kelby - outfitted in her own swim goggles and life jacket - jumped from the boat to retrieve the man.

“Her extreme swimming ability and capability to tow 50 times her own weight was critical in getting the passenger out of the dangerous portion of the lake where other high speed jet skis and boats were still flying past us,” Abraham said.

Kelby is very agile and athletic, thanks to her training regiment.

“We swim her two to three times a week for 2 hours at a time,” he said. “She also runs 2 miles, twice a week, usually with about 9:20 split times with just jogging.”

Abraham said he expects he’ll have Kelby and other water rescue dogs back at Beltzville.

“We had worked closely with The Friends of Beltzville group previously at the park,” he said. “We couldn’t think of a better place to help out than Beltzville as they typically hit full capacity on holidays. Being a state park we also knew they didn’t have any active lifeguards.”

The dog water rescue group also frequently trains at Tobyhanna State Park.