A loyal dog prevented a suicide attempt by its owner after knocking away a rifle the woman was trying to use to shoot herself in the heart.

The incident happened in a small town in France this week but has since become a story making headlines around the globe. Local police said the loyal German Shepherd prevented the suicide attempt of its owner and helped the woman stay alive long enough to authorities to find her and intervene.

Before attempting suicide, the 63-year-old woman went into her garden to fire some test shots with her 22-calibre rifle, AFP reported. When she was finished, the woman turned the gun to her own chest and tried to pull the trigger.

But as she did, the loyal dog sensed something amiss and prevented the suicide attempt.

“At the moment she pulled the trigger, her dog jumped on her and diverted the shot,” a local police officer told AFP, adding that the dog “probably sensed things and knocked into her to save her.”

The woman was still shot in the incident, but the German Shepherd was able to prevent her from hitting any vital organs. She was the found by her husband as she lay unconscious with a chest wound. Paramedics were able to get to the woman in time, and she was taken to a hospital with what are considered non-life-threatening injuries.

There have been many other times when dogs have taken drastic action to save their owners, the Epoch Times noted. In fact, the story of the loyal dog that prevented the suicide attempt is actually the second time this week that a person has been saved by a canine companion. In Poland, a 3-year-old girl who wandered off in frigid temperatures was protected and kept warm overnight by a local dog. Rescue workers were able to find her the next day.

“This dog is the most important part of the story,” a firefighter said of the dog who saved the girl. “He is a hero.”

It looks like the dog that prevented the suicide attempt has good company.