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This Midnight Hero Dog That Saved His Family From a Fire Is Getting the Recognition He Deserves

2 minute read
By Raisa Bruner

All dogs are good dogs, of course, but one dog — Hank — is getting the recognition he deserves for being “the best boy,” in his owner’s words, after he helped alert his family about a brewing house fire, saving many lives in the process.

As Twitter user Ulysses S. Cocksman shared over the weekend, Hank has had his bad habits in the past. (Exhibit A: he once chewed up a pair of brand-new shoes, back when he was a puppy.) But when Hank started barking in the middle of the night and Cocksman got up to check on him, he discovered a whole other type of problem: a wooden shed in their yard and the surrounding trees were on fire, with “flaming leaves and embers… blowing everywhere.”

Hank’s warning sign gave the family enough time to get to safety, call 911 and alert their neighbors, who were also in danger. Hank, meanwhile, is being hailed as a hero for putting the rescue into motion.

“He can have all the shoes and steaks he wants, and I will never get made at him for barking, ever again,” Cocksman went on to write. “15/10, the very best boy.” Cheers to all the Hanks out there helping to make sure that families have an extra set of eyes on their safety. (And if you don’t have a Hank handy, a functioning smoke detector is always a good idea.)

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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com