Officials with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office credit witnesses and two dogs for protecting two young children as the children were moving towards a highway Saturday morning.

Witnesses reportedly saw the two children, both under the age of six, in an emergency lane of Interstate 10. They said two dogs, Great Pyrenees/Shepherd mixes, who were with them were pushing the children back against the guardrail when they would move towards the interstate.

The Sheriff's Office and Florida Highway Patrol responded to Mile Marker 44 near Holt around 9 a.m. Saturday after receiving multiple calls.

Officials said several people reported seeing the dogs standing between the children and the highway, pushing them back when they would move forward.

Deputies said they determined the children had been playing in their yard with other children. They reportedly walked away from the foster father who had called for them to return.

They said he was unable to pursue them due to an ambulatory condition.

They went on to say the father sent his teenage children to search for the younger children while he drove his tractor into the woods to find them.

Deputies said after an investigation, they determined he made a diligent effort to find the children. No criminal charges were pursued.

They said one of the children said she went off because she was trying to chase a rainbow.