A pit bull from Lawrenceville, Ga., is being celebrated as a hero after he saved his master's wife--not once, but twice.

John Benton was headed out to work one day in July 2011 when the 6-year-old dog, Titan, started behaving strangely.

"He was barking and growling and then ran down the steps and got between me and the door," Benton told Fox5 in Atlanta. Benton turned around and went upstairs. There he found his wife, Gloria, had a brain aneurysm, and had fallen and suffered what turned out to be a skull fracture.

"The doctors said that if it had not been for this dog, if he had let me leave that house, she would have either bled to death or the aneurysm would have killed her," Benton told the TV station.

And just eight weeks ago, Titan again came to the rescue of Gloria Benton, the station reported. Early one morning, Titan woke John Benton, who discovered his wife had fallen and broken her hip.

For his heroics, the Humane Society of the United States honored Titan as its second runner up for the fifth annual Dogs of Valor Awards.

Gloria Benton, who hadn't been so keen on having a pit bull in her house, has grown quite fond of Titan.

"He is so special," she told the TV station. "And you just can't give him enough love. He loves to be loved on."