AUBURN – In 10 more minutes, Anthony, Ann and Danielle McKee might have died.

Uno saved them.

When the family’s Auburn home burned last week, the 6-month-old German shepherd gave them the precious minutes.

“I would have been trapped in the master bedroom,” Anthony McKee said. His wife, Ann, and their daughter, Danielle, 17, would have been similarly trapped.

“He saved us,” Anthony said. “No doubt.”

The family lives on Rockhill Avenue in a three-bedroom Cape Cod. The fire happened around 6 a.m. on Aug. 12.

Ann had just gotten up and drowsily went into the shower with Uno at her heels. The 60-pound puppy sat on the bathroom floor while she washed.

Suddenly, she heard a banging sound in the room with her.

“He was throwing himself at the door,” Ann said. Again and again, he was backing up and slamming his shoulder against the bathroom door.

“I knew something was wrong,” she said. “I know all his sounds. This was bad.”

When she opened the door, she smelled the smoke. In the kitchen, it billowed from the dishwasher, which was connected to piping from the basement. That’s where the fire started.

It was later deemed an electrical fire. It began in the circuit box and spread fast.

Within 10 minutes, the smoke had filled the house and the firefighters had arrived.

“He probably saved the house,” Anthony said Wednesday. The family still doesn’t know how much they can save, mostly because of the amount of smoke and water damage.

For now, they are staying at Lewiston’s Chalet Motel with Uno at their side.

“After everything, we wouldn’t go to a place that wouldn’t take Uno,” Ann said.

Still a pup, he meandered around the motel suite, peeking out the window. He played with his bone and gently tugged at Anthony’s clothes with his teeth, vying for constant attention.

They’ve been giving him the attention since he was 2 weeks old.

In February, just as the family moved to Auburn from Biddeford, they purchased him from the Munster Abbey breeders in Minot.

At 2 weeks old, Uno was too little to take home, so they visited him on Saturdays. They brought him home in April, rigging a long run and training him as best they could.

“We gave him all the love and attention we could,” Anthony said.

And Uno has returned their kindness.