A FAMILY'S pet dog was saved with the kiss of life after being brought out unconscious from a house fire early today.

Barbara Gilmour and her son Rory, 39, were treated for smoke after a dishwasher caught fire in the kitchen of their four-bedroom home in Little Coxwell, near Faringdon.

Mrs Gilmour's daughter-in-law, Alexandra Gilmour, who lives opposite the house, gave the dog, called Tolstoy, mouth-to-nose resuscitation. Alexandra is deputy manager of the Blue Cross animal sanctuary in Burford.

Firefighters gave Tolstoy, a German Shepherd-Rottweiler cross, oxygen.

Mrs Gilmour and Rory were awoken by the smell of smoke.

Firefighters stopped the fire spreading to the rest of the house. Station officer Dave Etheridge, of Oxfordshire Fire Service, said: "The dog was not breathing when it was brought out but luckily there was a neighbour on hand who knew exactly what to do."

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