DENVER -- A German Shepherd mix is recovering at a Wheat Ridge animal hospital after jumping out of a boat being hauled on Interstate 70 Friday.

A good Samaritan driving behind saw the dog jump and slammed on the brakes.

The driver picked up the dog and carried it to the side of the road, reported the Rocky Mountain News.

The dog’s owners stopped and told the good Samaritan they were traveling to the Midwest and didn’t have time to wait for the dog to recover. The good Samaritan decided to take the animal to the hospital herself, where she’s been recovering ever since.

"She loves to get her tummy rubbed," veterinarian Elisa Mazzaferro told the News. "If someone isn't petting her, she'll kind of pet us back to show that we need to pet her more, if, God forbid, we stop for a moment. She has us well trained."

The veterinarians have named the dog Shadow. Two of the workers at the hospital are eager to adopt the dog, Mazzaferro said.

"Fortunately for her, she will finally get a really good home," she told the News.

Mazzaferro said sadly she sees cases like this all too often.

"We see this so frequently," she told the News. "A dog is tied with just one rope, then jumps out and is hung or dragged for several miles," she said. "They often lose their limbs."