Bertie was presented with the regional award for his hospital heroics

Bertie, a hearing dog from Aberystwyth, saved a patient who was on the same ward as his owner at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales.

His heroics were rewarded at the Golden Bonio Award 2003 ceremony to find the most outstanding dog in Britain.

His won �250 for his owner and a year's supply of dog biscuits for himself.

Bertie was in the final 12 of the more than 300 dogs entered.

Good deed

Among the other finalists at the ceremony at Kensington Roof Gardens on Tuesday, were a Metropolitan Police dog, a Customs and Excise sniffer dog and talented canines from as far afield as Staffordshire and Berkshire.

As a hearing dog, Bertie alerts owner Gill Stevenson to noises such as doorbells or when her text telephone rings.

Dogs are trained for around four months before they are let out into people's homes, where training continues.

Bertie did his good deed while he was visiting owner Ms Stevenson in hospital and noticed the woman opposite had stopped breathing.

Bertie hears sounds for owner Gill Stevenson

He started barking loudly to alert staff.

"We couldn't quieten him down, we didn't know what was wrong, so one of the nurses went across to check that she was all right and in fact she wasn't all right," said Ms Stevenson.

"I love him dearly - he is a beautiful little dog," she added.

It is not the first time Bertie has been in line for awards - back in November 2001, he was named hearing dog of the month.

His rivals in the Golden Bonio Awards included Bobby, a male greyhound who took care of seven orphaned puppies, and a golden retriever who led his owner to discover he had skin cancer after his doctor had diagnosed it as eczema.

The winning dog was a Siberian husky called Rio who encouraged her anorexic owner to battle her way back to health

Rio was chosen by a panel of judges which included TV personality Anthea Turner, actress Miranda Richardson and TV presenter Gloria Hunniford.

TV presenter Gaby Roslin, who presented the award, said: "It has been a difficult decision to make with so many inspirational tales of man and his best friend."