ATHENS, Ala. – An Athens man is crediting his puppy for saving his life Sunday after his whole front yard went up in flames.

Cameron McKee has only had his lab mix Monster for a little over a month. He said if it wasn’t for the pup the whole house would have burned down

Monster is a word usually used to describe something mean or scary, but this Monster is adorable. He has four legs and has kisses for days to give. He`s also Cameron McKee`s hero.

Sunday afternoon McKee`s whole yard went up in flames, while he and his girlfriend were fast asleep. “Two of the dogs were on the bed with us sleeping. I think Monster was out in the living room and all of sudden, he comes running in and starts making noise and wakes my girlfriend up,” McKee explained.

Monster was alerting his owners of a major issue right outside their window. “My girlfriend heard the crackling outside and a weird smell outside. She opened the front door and looks out and sees the whole front yard was in flames,” McKee said.

McKee`s girlfriend woke him up and he starts to use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. He said he put out most of the fire, but the fire department came to put out the hot spots.

Now the yard is filled with charred grass. The fire was within inches of taking over the entire house.

“This is the rescuer here. The hero! Monster woke us up and he said there`s something wrong out there,” McKee explained.

McKee said if it wasn`t for Monster the damage would have been a lot worse. “If it wasn’t for him I mean honestly, the shed would have caught fire. The fire spread all the way against the house. It was a matter of a couple more minutes and we could have lost everything,” McKee said.

A month ago McKee brought in Monster to simply be the new pet, now he will be known as Monster the pup who saved the day.