Back in the summer of 2002, in the Milwaukee Channel in Wisconsin, Spicy the white smooth haired chihuahua jumped or fell off a boat. When Nancy Reynolds discovered her dog was missing a frantic search was made on board, then the boat circled back searching for Spicy, who was not to be found.

Seven days later maintenance workers came ashore on Tranquility Island, discovering the chihuahua, who swam three miles to the uninhabited bit of land, on which she had evidently been subsisting off bugs, and had found herself a shelter under the edge of the island's only building. "She's just a great survivor," said Nancy Reynolds. "She wants to go on with life."