Rescue dog returns the favour, saves family from fire

Teddy the golden retriever is being called a “hero” and a “Godsend” today.

In the wee hours of Monday morning, Teddy woke up Kelly Sewart in her Livonia, New York, home and alerted her to danger: The living room ceiling was engulfed in flames.

“I heard him by the bed and I said, ‘Teddy, what’s going on?’ Of course he can’t speak but I knew there was something wrong,” Sewert told WHAM-13. “So I turned the light on and saw the smoke.”

Sewart and her fiancé Willam Vanzandt acted fast and were able to escape the burning building with their two boys unharmed.

"Five to ten minutes later, it was a ball of flames," Vanzandt told ABC News. “We just got out of there on time.”

“He’s our hero,” Sewert told WHAM-13. “Everyone just keeps petting him and telling him good boy Teddy.”

Sewert and Vanzandt are currently pet-sitting Teddy for Vanzandt’s mother, who dropped off the dog just hours before the fire as she left for vacation. She adopted the dog last year after Teddy was found abandoned and near starvation in a state park.

"He wasn’t in as good shape as he is now," said Vanzandt of the now-100-pound dog. “He was skin and bones when she got him.”

While Teddy was able to rescue the family, the home was completely destroyed in the fire. Sewart and Vanzandt are just thankful no one was hurt. Their family — with hero Teddy — is temporarily staying at Vanzandt’s mother’s home until they find a new place to live.

“He did a good job, he saved our lives,” said Sewert.

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Last fall in Iowa, a 3-year-old Sheltie woke up her owner, Paul Kemp, and saved him from fast-approaching flames. He quickly escaped the building, then realized the dog was still inside. It was then Kemp’s turn to save his dog. He ran back inside and yelled for the dog until she came running.

And in December 2012, a brave dog in Chile repeatedly ran back into a burning home to rescue all five of her 10-day-old puppies from the blaze. Only one of the puppies suffered fatal injuries in the fire.