An L.A. firefighter approaches the dog. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The firefighter uses a harness to rescue the dog. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The firefighter and dog are moved to higher ground. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter holds the dog after it was pulled from the river. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters try to warm the dog after it spent a significant amount of time in the river. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The dog was transported to a nearby animal shelter after the rescue. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Senior Animal Care Tech Stephanie Webster cares for the dog in its cage at the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, where it was placed under 10-day quarantine while staff watched for signs of rabies. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The dog sits quietly in its quarantine cage, perhaps relieved that the worst of its ordeal was over. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Television crews tape as owner Ramon Medina takes the dog, named Spikey, to his car to finally go home. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Animal care technician Stephanie Webster says goodbye to Spikey as the German shepherd gets ready to go home with owners Maria and Ramon Medina. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Salvador Medina gets reacquainted with Spikey in the family car on the way home. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Joseph St. Georges, far right, the firefighter who saved Spikey from the the L.A. River during the January rains; helicopter pilot Scott Bowman, next to St. Georges, who lowered him into the river; and the rest of the L.A. Fire Department rescue team are all smiles after being honored by an animal welfare group. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
