LAKE HURON, Canada: An heroic dog has kept her unconscious owner afloat for more than 12 hours in icy waters after the pair capsized in their canoe during a freak storm.

Echo, a four-year-old German Shepherd/Collie-cross, not only stopped owner Tish Smith from drowning, but also propelled her towards the shore, used her body heat to keep her owner from falling into hypothermia and attracted the attention of rescuers.

Echo was recently inducted into the Pet's Hall of Fame for her selfless actions.

Smith and Echo were taking a canoe trip across Lake Huron in July 2006 when a freak storm came out of nowhere, causing seven-foot waves to swamp and eventually capsize the canoe, according to the Toronto Star.

Smith, a native of Manitoulin Island, Canada, said that without her dog Echo, she wouldn't have survived.

"When we landed in the water I thought my heart was going to stop," Smith told the Star. "I put Echo under my arm and we just floated. We were miles and miles away from shore".

"I was very frightened before we went in the water," she said. "The sky was suddenly black and there was lightning everywhere. I was worried that Echo would drown."

Canada.com reported that Echo's "calm eyes" helped her owner keep her head throughout the ordeal until she succumbed to the extreme conditions and passed out.

After floating for more than ten hours in huge and hostile swells, Smith, no longer able to move her arms and edging towards hypothermia, slipped into unconsciousness.

"It was shocking how cold it was for July. We swam around for hours," Smith told canada.com. "I thought we'd be OK, but it was so cold. Without Echo ... there wouldn't have been a rescue."

Smith said Echo, who had remained tucked under her arm during the entire emergency, with her thick fur providing warmth, began circling her once she lost consciousness.

The Star reported that even though the pair had drifted to within 50 feet of shore, Echo, ignoring her natural instinct to swim for land, refused to abandon her owner and kept swimming in circles around her body.

Eventually, Echo's actions attracted the attention of a nearby rescue team, which rushed Smith to hospital where she soon recovered, according to radioowensound.com.

"She was once an "outdoor dog," but things have changed, Smith told the Star. "Can you feel the kink in her tail? It was broken that day. We're not sure how, maybe when the canoe hit her. She still loves the outdoors. But she's no longer an outdoor dog. She's been attached to my hip ever since the incident."