A heroic dog leapt into a river in southern China on Tuesday (August 13) to save its canine friend who was trapped on a small boat.

The heartwarming scene, which was filmed in Qingyuan city in Guangdong province, shows a rottweiler standing anxiously on the banks of the river as a smaller dog drifts alone downstream in a rowing-boat.

The rottweiler then leaps into the river, bites a rope attached to the boat and swims the vessel to the bank where the little dog jumps onto dry land.