Hero dog saves couple from apartment fire - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Hero dog saves couple from apartment fire

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By Marie Waxel - bio | email
Brandon McDonald and his wife with their dog Boots. Brandon McDonald and his wife with their dog Boots.
SHEFFIELD, AL (WAFF) -

A dog's heroics helped one family escape an apartment fire over the weekend.

The dog woke up a couple in the nick of time after a fire burned an apartment building in Sheffield. The couple said their dog didn't wake them, they wouldn't have made it out alive.

Boots is a 9-month-old pit bull mix. Her owner, Brandon McDonald, said he and his wife were asleep in an upstairs apartment when the fire broke out early Saturday morning.

He said the dog kept nudging him, and even barked a couple times, but it wasn't until she latched onto his arm that he then opened his eyes and saw smoke inside their apartment. Mcdonald said the dog's bite didn't break the skin or leave any bruises.

Like others in the building, the couple lost everything in the fire, but they said they're thankful to still have the dog and each other.

"I've always kept a pit bull," said McDonald. "I won't ever be without a pit bull again. I will never get rid of my dog. I love my dog to death."

Firefighters believe the fire started in a downstairs apartment. An exact cause has not yet been determined.

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