When Deborah Watkins and her grandson Logan walked into PAWS of Dearborn County on 28 January, they were looking for an American Staffordshire terrier. They came home with a dog called Cindy Lou, who had been waiting two years for someone to notice her.

They renamed her Layla Lou. Forty-eight hours later, she saved their lives.

On Layla's second night in the house, Deborah woke in the small hours to a dog who would not be ignored. "Layla came in my room and was very aggressively trying to wake me up," Deborah told FOX19. "When I got up, I discovered that the house was filling up with smoke."

The source was the family's wood-burning fireplace. A log had been too large to fit properly, so it had been taken out and set down on the pile of other logs — where, unnoticed, it had begun to smoulder. By the time Layla roused Deborah, smoke was already thick upstairs.

"She prevented definitely what could've been a fire where we would've needed the fire department response and probably smoke inhalation," Deborah said.

No one was hurt. The house still stands. And a dog who had spent two years in kennels spent her second night at home earning the only reward that really matters: a family who now cannot imagine the place without her.

The dog nobody picked

Layla Lou is an American Staffordshire terrier, a breed that too often lingers in shelters because of reputation rather than temperament. Spencer Oak, a kennel technician at PAWS of Dearborn County, put it plainly to FOX19.

"Don't judge a dog by the breed so quickly," he said. "They're all individuals, like we're all individuals. You can't cast a broad blanket on these dogs and think you're correct."

The Watkinses say it was her personality that made them choose her. "She not only saved our home, but she saved our home from boredom," Logan said. "She is always doing something funny. She loved lying on people, licking, kissing."

Home, forever

Deborah says she does not like to think about what might have happened if Layla had slept through it. She does not have to.

"She is home forever," Deborah told FOX19. "We will keep her forever. She's ours."

PAWS of Dearborn County, like shelters everywhere, still has dogs waiting — some, like Layla, for years. The family's message is a simple one, and it costs nothing to pass on: consider adopting, and when you do, consider the ones who have been overlooked the longest.

A gentle second reminder, while we're here. Working smoke alarms on every floor, checked once a month. A fire guard in front of any wood-burner. And logs that have been anywhere near a flame kept well away from anything else that might catch. Layla did a remarkable thing. Most nights, that job falls to a nine-volt battery.

Based on reporting by FOX19/WXIX.