A dog rescued from the White River in January found a permanent home with a Pike Township family today.

Biscuit, a two-year-old Great Pyrenees, was rescued from a piece of floating ice in the White River on Jan. 22, two days after she ran away from her foster family. Indianapolis Fire Department rescuer Rick Hines spent 40 minutes trying to reach the frightened pooch, who was 50 to 60 feet from shore.

“It was the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Hines said. “I worked my way out there on a sled; I’d break the ice, move a couple of feet, break the ice, move another couple of feet. She’s a shy dog by nature, and when I reached her, she started to back away. She didn’t have the strength to fight me; she probably just thought it was best if she went with me.”

Jane Rose, who runs Indy Great Pyrenees Rescue, said Biscuit likely had been hit by a car before her rescue. The skin on her right front paw had peeled back from injury, her back right kneecap was knocked out of place and her teeth had pierced her tongue in several places.

Local television crews taped the rescue, making Biscuit and her rescuer instant, if reluctant, celebrities. Hines already has appeared on the “Today” show and is scheduled to appear on an episode of “Wild and Untamed” on the Animal Planet Network.

Rose said that more than 30 people contacted her to adopt the newly famous canine, including Hines, but it wasn’t until Biscuit met Larry and Karen Grau that she knew Biscuit had found a new home.

“I knew from the beginning she’d be happy with them,” Rose said. “She’s a very skittish dog, but when she met Karen and Larry, you could tell by the way she reacted that they were the one.”

The Graus, who recently lost a nine-year-old Golden Retriever named Dakota to cancer, finished a two-week trial period with Biscuit on Friday and said she’s quickly become a member of their family.

“She was so shy when she first came to the house,” Larry Grau said. “But since then, she’s been jumping on the furniture and chasing around our other dog, Quincy. Biscuit’s only about two, so you can see her puppy side as she’s going crazy around our house.”