KENT, Ohio -- A puppy is being hailed as a hero after saving her best friend this week from a swarm of bees.

Nine-year-old Richie Bragg was in his yard Sunday with his 18-week-old puppy, Pinky, when he noticed the bees.

He was stung several times before Pinky came running and distracted the swarm enough that Richie could run to the house.

"She was yelping when she got to the door," the boy said. "And my grandma said, 'Come inside. And shut the door before Pinky gets inside with all those bees.'"

"She was swollen," Richie said. "You could actually see little bumps on her still, right here, where some of the bee stings were."

The boy's mother rushed Pinky to an animal hospital, where Dr. Jaime Marietti found more than 40 bee stings covering the dog's body. Pinky's eyes were swollen shut, and the rest of her was so swollen, the puffiness added a few pounds to her weight.

"Boxers, especially, tend to be a little bit more allergic to bees," Marietti said. "However, she had an anaphylactic reaction, because even when we were putting an IV catheter in her, we were trying to, you know, get her through this. She never even looked at us. She never lifted her head up. She didn't pay attention to anything."

Both Pinky and Richie have fully recovered. Richie was stung a few times, but Pinky kept a bad situation from getting worse.

"Pinky really saved my life," Richie said.