And people say animals are dumb!

He had just saved her from a fire in her house, rescuing her by carrying her out of the house into her front yard, while he continued to fight the fire.



She is pregnant.



When he finally got done putting the fire out, he sat down to catch his breath and rest.



A photographer from the Charlotte, North Carolina Newspaper, "The Observer," noticed her in the distance looking at the fireman.



He saw her walking straight toward the fireman and wondered what she was going to do.



As he raised his camera, she came up to the tired man who had saved her life and the lives of her babies, and kissed him, just as the photographer snapped this photograph.




....

that brought tears to my eyes

Yeah I have to admit I was a bit taken back by it also!

Isn't that a great shot !!

sometimes a photographer gets the blessing of seeing such an event with the right equipment in his hands..i think that happens for a reason. What a shot, i am so glad you posted this and i will never forget it.

Wow. That image has been burned into my head. What a touching picture. It brought tears to me eyes.

*flinches*

I hate to be the one to say it. While it is sweet story, it's untrue. The photo is real, but the story behind it is not.

But still, it gives me warm fuzzies each time I see that picture.

How do you know the story behind the photo?

The photo has been circulated around the Internet for several years. Here's a link with a good information.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gratitude.asp

The picture is still a good illustration on how sweet dobermans (and dogs in general) are.

I hate it when my heart strings are played with! It makes me more cynical.

but it is still a sweet picture. she just rescued herself. the firefighter did his job and cinamon and her puppies made it out. she could very well have been thanking him for showing up when he did. maybe she couldn't see the doorway until they went in cause of all the smoke?
ya never know what a dog's thinking...not really

lol never know whats true when people submit it to google as news... Still a great story and picture.

The picture is still worth soo much.