Family Dog Drags Baby From Crib

July 22, 2009— -- A Kentucky couple, excited about bringing home a new baby boy, are still reeling from their premature newborn's life-threatening injuries suffered after the family's beloved dog dragged him from his crib.

AJ had been home for less than 24 hours Monday when his parents, Michael and Chrissie Smith, went to check on him and found his crib empty.

Frantically, they searched the house and surrounding woods, calling 911 when they couldn't find him. Ten minutes later, Michael Smith found the family's dog, Dakota, with AJ in her mouth.

"We were downstairs for two minutes," Smith told "Good Morning America" today. "And my wife had an instinct. She just went upstairs."

Baby AJ is now at the hospital in critical condition. Born three weeks early, he suffered a cracked skull, broken ribs and two punctured lungs when Dakota took him from his crib.

"The priority is rest and just keep getting the meds in him," Smith said, adding that his son is as stable as he has been since the incident.

When the family first got to the hospital, it was a much different atmosphere.

"They took us to a consulting room with a pastor and gave us one more chance to see him," Smith said. "That was hard. I had a really, really, really, really, really bad feeling coming up to the hospital."

Smith said AJ's heart stopped at the hospital and emergency room attendants had to use tiny paddles to resuscitate him.

"When the doctor comes in and the doctor's pretty much crying, you know, you think the worst," Smith said. "But then, you just fight through it. He's a fighter. He's fought the whole way."

The family has had Dakota, a mixed breed Native American Indian dog, for four years. Smith said he completely trusted her and she was part of the Nicholasville family.