Louisiana dog hailed a hero for protecting young girls lost in woods for hours

A family dog is being hailed as a hero after it protected two young girls who wandered off and got lost in the Louisiana woods for hours.

Abigail Bourg, 7, and her four-year-old sister Cecilia were reported missing in Folsom, Louisiana on Monday while accompanied by their family Golden Retriever, Artemis, CBS News reported.

“I just start like running around the whole six acre property and that’s when I called [my husband] and said, ‘They’re gone,'” Mary Bourg said about the moment she realized her girls were gone.

Police and neighbors searched for the girls for four hours and finally located them when they heard Artemis barking. 

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Mary Bourg told the outlet that Artemis at first protected the girls from the search team and “wasn’t letting them by the girls.”

“He was circling them, growling at the people to protect them,” Bourg said.

The girls had wandered off more than a mile and the family dog reportedly laid on top of them to protect them when they got tired. 

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After the family was reunited, the girls told their family they had gotten lost trying to keep up with Artemis.

“He kept running ahead of us. We were trying to follow him, but we couldn’t keep up,” Abigail Bourg said.

Abigail’s father Justin says the family has forgiven Artemis for running off. 

“He’s got a free pass for a while,” Bourg said. “I won’t be fussing at him for chewing up blankets and shoes.”