LAMOINE – Scout was just following her instinct.

But when this young, chocolate Labrador retriever leaped into a muddy frog pond to drag her 5-year-old friend Owen to shore, she became a hero in the eyes of the McGreevy family.

Last weekend, Scout’s heroism grew to national prominence when she and her people flew to Los Angles to receive the 2001 National Hero Dog Award from the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“It’s exciting, but we were kind of surprised,” said Maureen McGreevy about Scout’s award-winning act of heroism. “This is something she would have done at the drop of a hat.

“She’s part of our family, and we know she just did it because she loves us.”

The story began last April when the three McGreevy boys – Devin, 8, Ryan, 7, and Owen – decided to go “exploring” around the frog pond hidden in the wooded area behind their rural home.

Owen climbed out onto a slimy log, then fell, feet-first, into the shallow pond. His legs became lodged in the thick mud, and the cold water lapped at his chest. As he struggled to free himself, he began sinking deeper into the sediment, and he started to panic.

The more the little boy thrashed, the deeper into the pond he sank.

Ryan ran back to the house to tell his father, who flew out the front door, leaving it wide open.

“It was fate, with that door being left open,” McGreevy said. “I zoomed out. Scout came running after me down the steps. We heard Owen screaming, and then Scout just took off like a beam [of light].”

By the time McGreevy had reached the pond, just a few hundred yards away, Scout had jumped in the water, grabbed Owen by the seat of his pants and pulled him nearly to shore.

“He must have weighed a good 40 pounds, and she was only a couple months old,” McGreevy said. “I don’t want to think about what could have happened if she wasn’t there,” he said.

“That’s what labs do – throw something in the water and they’ll go get it,” Maureen McGreevy joked.

But in all seriousness, Scout and Owen have a special relationship, she said. The dog often curls up beside the smallest McGreevy, watching over him.

“Scout lays beside him – she’s kind of motherly,” her husband said.

The McGreevys researched different breeds when they decided to get a dog for their three young boys for Christmas 1999 and decided on a lab because of their reputation for being patient and protective around children.

“I knew she was going to have to take a lot of running and hugging and squeezing,” Maureen McGreevy said.

Scout’s bond with the McGreevys made her an ideal candidate for the Hero Dog Award, Madeline Bernstein, president of spcaLA, said Wednesday.

“This is a dog that loves her family and did what needed to be done,” Bernstein said. “This is not a trained search and rescue dog. This is a dog like all our dogs.”

A local pet heroism award was created 19 years ago by a Los Angeles woman whose dog saved her life. Then, two years ago, pet food manufacturer Pedigree offered to sponsor the spcaLA award, and it became a national competition, she said.

This year, People Magazine publicized the award, inspiring hundreds of Americans, including Maureen McGreevy, to nominate their dogs.

But Scout stood out. Her story encompassed all the values of the award, demonstrating just how amazing well-treated dogs can be, Bernstein explained.

“She had to assess the situation. She had to figure it out. You couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said.

“There are unwanted animals in shelters all over the country,” Bernstein said. “If people begin to realize the value of a mutually affectionate relationship, and how smart and creative these dogs are, maybe they wouldn’t feel that it was OK just to destroy them.”.

Owen took his first plane ride on Friday when he, his dad, and Scout flew from Bangor to Los Angeles courtesy of Pedigree. The three were special guests at the dog-friendly Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Then on Saturday morning, they participated in the Great LA Dog Walk at Griffith Park.

More than 2,000 Los Angeles residents, including several celebrities, brought their dogs to the 3.5-mile walk sponsored by spcaLA, McGreevy said.

“It looked sort of like a marathon. All along the route, they had tables with cups of water for the people and bowls of water for the dogs,” he said. “Owen was huffing and puffing, but he made it through the whole walk.”

At the finish line, Scout and the McGreevys were invited up on stage to tell their tale and receive a plaque and gifts including a year’s supply of food and treats from Pedigree and a hand-crafted “hero dog” bowl.

They flew home Sunday, and Scout returned to her normal dog routine of bounding around the yard and swimming in the pond.

And most importantly, running to greet Owen with a frantic show of tail-wagging when he comes home from school – reminding the McGreevys, every day, how lucky they are to share their home with a hero dog.