A dog who is battling cancer and has only have a few months left to live, saved her family from a house fire that endangered all their lives.

Timber was the only one awake when a fire flared up in the Nagy family’s attic. The fire started early Wednesday morning and Timber's owner Sloan Nagy was asleep, as was her 3-year-old daughter.

Timber woke Sloan up as she regularly does but this time there was something different. "She took her nose and was just nudging me," Sloan told KHOU News. "Normally if I say Timber, stop, she’ll leave." But this time Timber didn't stop. "She wasn’t stopping. She was waking me up," explained Sloan.

The home was filled with blinding smoke, but the family managed to get out safely. Firefighters told them they were lucky as a few minutes later things would have taken a bad turn. "The heater was going to fall directly in the middle of the hallway, and we would’ve all been trapped in our rooms,” said Sloan. Thankfully, the home received minimal damage.

Sloan is overcome with emotion at her dog's heroic actions. They rescued Timber as a stray during Hurricane Rita and now said the chocolate Labrador Retriever has returned the favor. "We saved her life, and she saved our life," said Sloan.

Timber has been fighting cancer since May and her family has spent over $15,000 for radiation and chemotherapy treatments. These treatments have extended her life and indirectly have saved theirs.

Timber's prognosis isn't good, doctors give her a few months. Crying Sload said, "I just loved her, and I don’t want to lose her. I couldn’t have asked for a better dog."

The family is planning a celebration party for Timber, which will include plenty of steak for her.

• Cancer
• Labrador Retriever
• house fire