A Nova Scotia woman and her dog are safe after falling through the ice, thanks to the quick-thinking actions of two young boys.

Susan Atkinson says Jan. 9 was a typical day until her dog, Stormy, got loose and fell through the thin ice of the river behind her home in Oxford, N.S.

“I got down on my hands and knees and crawled out onto the ice to try to grab her, and when I finally got to her and went to grab her, we both fell in, ice broke, and we both went under again,” recalls Atkinson.

Atkinson says she struggled in chest-deep water for about 30 minutes, trying to get herself and Stormy back to the shore.

“When I was sitting on the side of the bank, I realized I couldn’t move,” she says. “Nothing would work. I think I was starting with hypothermia, so I started to holler, ‘Help!’”

Jonah MacIntyre, 13, and Taylor Millett, 11, were shovelling a driveway nearby when they heard her cries. They ran to the river while a neighbour called 911.

“We went down, tried to get her to grab onto our shovel, but then the girl came down with a rope, and so I went up and got the rope and gave it to her,” explains Millet. “She hooked it onto the dog and then she held on and we just pulled her out.”

Atkinson says the boys stayed with her and Stormy until they knew they were both OK.

“I was never so happy to see them in all my life,” she says. “They saved me. I don’t know what would have happened had they not come along. They were both so sweet and they both stayed calm and helped with the dog.”

Jennifer Millett says she is proud of her son and MacIntyre and, despite their heroic actions, the boys have been humble about the experience.

“Me being my age, I still don’t think I’d be as calm as they were,” says the proud mom. “The adrenaline would probably rush it, and I’d probably panic.”

The boys say they have made a new friend and a new customer for their driveway-shovelling business. They’re also using the experience to help spread an important message.

“Just stay off the ice,” says Millett.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Suzette Belliveau