Alfred Gomez said he was walking his dogs, when suddenly one of them, who happens to be missing an eye, jumped in.
He tried to reach for the dog, but ended up falling in.
Gomez stayed afloat by holding onto a nearby branch.
"I didn't see how I was going to make it and my warm-ups got caught in my feet, so I couldn't kick," he said. "Thank God for that branch, I would've been gone."
A witness called 911, who deployed a rescue boat to save him.
Crews were also able to save his dog.