Rocky 's been a fictional hero for decades , but in Edmonton , Alberta , today there 's a hero named Rocky who is definitely real -- only he 's 8 years old and has four legs . This Rocky , a Labrador retriever-husky mix , is being hailed for pulling a 9-year-old girl from an icy river on Easter Sunday . His owner , Adam Shaw , 27 , is getting similar praise . `` If that man and dog were n't there -- I just try not to think of it , '' Miranda Wagner , the mother of Samara , 9 , and her 10-year-old sister , Krymzen , said in an interview with CNN affiliate CTV . `` I just want to give him a big hug and tell him he 's my hero . If he was n't there I would n't have my girls , '' Wagner said . `` Doctors said two more minutes and Samara would have been gone . '' Rocky and Shaw 's heroics played out on the icy North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton on Sunday afternoon . The girls were tobogganing in a riverside park when they ended up on ice extending from the riverbank , their father , Corey Sunshine , told CNN affiliate CBC . `` From what I was told was , one of the toboggans came off the snowbank and onto the ice and they were trying to come back and the ice broke , '' he said . Shaw said he was walking on a bridge over the river when he heard screams . Looking down on the river he saw one girl in the icy water and her sister trying to pull her out . By the time he and Rocky sprinted down to the river , both girls were in the water . He was able to pull Krymzen up onto the ice , but the current was carrying Samara downstream , about 4 or 5 feet from the edge of the ice , her head going in and out of the water , Shaw told a press conference Monday . He asked the girl if she could swim to him . `` She said she could n't move her arms , could n't move her legs , '' Shaw said . He tried throwing Rocky 's leash to her but it did n't reach . Then , as he tried to get closer , the ice gave way beneath him and his dog . `` He managed to get his front paws on the ice and I pushed his back end up so he was on the ice , then I used the leash and him to kind of pull myself up onto the ice , '' Shaw said . By this time , Samara had drifted 50 or 60 yards farther down the river , still bobbing in and out of the ice-cold water . Shaw and Rocky ran to her again , but she was still out of reach . `` I put the leash around Rocky and pushed him to get in the water and I told her if she could get ahold of his leash , we could get her back to the ice , '' Shaw said . `` He jumped in right beside her , '' he said , and the girl managed to get both hands on Rocky 's leash . `` I called him back and he swam toward the ice , '' Shaw said , getting close enough that he could grab both the girl 's arm and his dog and drag them away from the water 's edge . Fire rescue crews arrived shortly thereafter and took the sisters for treatment . On Monday , they were home with their grateful mother , and Shaw and Rocky were being honored at the fire station -- Shaw with a fireman 's hat and Rocky with a giant rawhide bone he grabbed from Fire Chief Ken Block before Block could take off its plastic wrapper . `` These two young ladies are very , very fortunate that such a family happened along and were able to intervene , '' Block said . Shaw could n't dispute that . `` I guess it 's just a bit of a miracle that everything worked out perfectly , '' he told CTV .
Girls , 9 and 10 , fell into Edmonton river while tobogganing . Adam Shaw came to aid with his dog . He was able to pull the girls out of the water Girl holds onto dog 's leash as he swims to shore .