Pit Bull Saves Woman With Brain Aneurysm, Given 'Neighbor Of The Year' Award (VIDEO)

When John Benton tried to leave for work one morning back in July, he was surprised to find the family pit bull, Titan, running around in circles, barking and blocking the door out of the house, CBS Atlanta reported.

"He'd run up a few flights of steps and run back down just to keep me from going, to let me know something was wrong. And that's when I followed him up the stairs to see what he was trying to tell me," Benton told the station.

It turns out John's wife Gloria had suffered a brain aneurysm and fractured her skull after falling down. Had Titan not alerted Benton of Gloria's peril, she may have not survived, the station reported.

Now, the pup is being awarded with "Neighbor of the Year" by the Vintage Pointe Neighborhood Association, making him the first canine to ever receive it.

Pit bulls don't always get a good rap in the news. In January, parents of a boy who was mauled to death by two pit bulls proposed legislation that would make it a felony to own a pit bull in the state of Texas.

The bill ignited furious debate over the breed.

Dog trainer Michele Crouse told NBC that it's not the dog's breed, but rather the dog's owner that determines the animal's aggression. "It's all upon the responsibility of the owner and not what dog they have. It doesn't matter if they have a 2-pound Chihuahua or a 200-pound mastiff."

Earlier this year, another dog became a hero when he alerted rescuers to a pup who was trapped in a drainpipe.

WATCH:

Want more great dogs? Check out the slideshow of puppies below:

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• Two Beagle puppies play as the American Kennel Club officials announce their annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S January 27, 2010 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

• Puppies watch on at a police dog training base September 16, 2005 in Beijing, China. The dogs are trained by a police squad to learn identifying, catching, tracking and other skills. According to the Ministry of Public Security, there is an estimate of over 10,000 working police dogs in China. These dogs are divided into 30 kinds according to international conventions and are widely used in police work, rescue and military missions. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

• A view of a puppy at the North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life Pet Adoption Event on April 26, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

• A view of a puppy at the North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life Pet Adoption Event on April 26, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

• Puppies just born by a sniffer dog sleep at a police dog training base September 16, 2005 in Beijing, China. The dogs are trained by a police squad to learn identifying, catching, tracking and other skills. According to the Ministry of Public Security, there is an estimate of over 10,000 working police dogs in China. These dogs are divided into 30 kinds according to international conventions and are widely used in police work, rescue and military missions. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

• A Mastiff puppy rests during the XVIIIth International Dog exhibition on November 8, 2009 in Prague. (MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images)

• A three-day-old Labradoodle puppy is shown to the press at the Uri Bekman's 'World of Dogs' kennel in Pardesia, 30 kms north of Tel Aviv 07 December 2005. (YOAV LEMMER/AFP/Getty Images)

• Three-day-old Labradoodle puppies nap at the Uri Bekman's 'World of Dogs' kennel in Pardesia, 30 kms north of Tel Aviv 07 December 2005. (YOAV LEMMER/AFP/Getty Images)

• A seven week old Daschund cross puppy waits to be re-homed at the Cheshire Dogs Home on January 4, 2010 in Warrington, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

• Three-year-old Galia suckles her first litter of six puppies on June 4, 2009 at the Barry Foundation Great St. Bernard breeding kennels in Martigny, Western Switzerland. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Two-week-old puppies play on June 4, 2009 at the Barry Foundation Great St. Bernard breeding kennels in Martigny, Western Switzerland. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Two-week-old Saint Bernard puppies play at the Barry Foundation breeding kennels in Martigny on June 4, 2009. The Saint Bernard dog was once the ubiquitous companion of monks at the monastery tucked 2,500m above sea level, guiding them through the Alps or helping them to rescue stranded or lost travellers in the snowy mountains. However, there are no longer any such dogs living permanently at the monastery these days. In fact, the monks decided five years ago to part ways with their pedigree breeding programme, as the work became too much for the four monks living permanently at the monastery to handle. The breeding kennels faced the risk of being shut permanently if not for a group of Swiss bankers and animal-lovers who set up the Barry Foundation to buy the breeding programme. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Two puppies play as American Kennel Club officials announce their annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S January 27, 2010 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

• A volunteer holds up a puppy that was born after its mother has been rescued from a truck, in an animal hospital in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Chinese animal lovers mobilized by online calls for help blockaded a truck of hundreds of dogs being shipped off for food in a rare, permitted display of social action amid a broad crackdown on most kinds of activism. (AP Photo)

• Nine Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies from a litter of 17 look out of their box in Nauen, 50 kilometers outside Berlin on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. On Sept 28, and 29, 4 year old Ridgeback Etana had 17 puppies. All of them survived. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• Seven Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies from a litter of 17 look out of their box in Nauen, 50 kilometers outside Berlin on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. On Sept 28, and 29, the 4 years old Ridgeback Etana had 17 puppies. All of them survived. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• A husky puppy is transported in a child's push chair, on a snowy street downtown Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

• A seven week old Border Collie puppy rests after frolicking with its sibblings in their garden as outdoors temperatures dropped below minus 10 degrees celsius in the village of Bodice on December 16, 2010. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

• A seven-week old Border Collie puppy rests after a play with its siblings in their garden as outdoors temperatures dropped below minus 10 degrees celsius in the village of Bodice on December 16, 2010. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

• Six-month old Chihuahua puppies, Ellie, left, and Gulliver, right, nuzzle together at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in Methuen, Mass. Wednesday, June 15, 2011. The already adopted puppies, born without front legs, were fitted with wheels made by Eddie's Wheels of Shelburne, Mass. and are training to walk and run with them. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

• Puppies run at a playground in the K9 school and hospital of the Middle East Kennel Cub at Nahr al-Kalb area, north of Beirut, on October 27, 2010. The Club, which is the largest in the Middle East, has more than 400 dogs and clients bring their pets to be trained, bred and hospitalized. (JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

• In this handout image provided by Pucchin Dog's, 'Love-Kun', a 3-day old chihuahua puppy with heart-shaped markings is presented to the media with his brothers at Pucchin Dog's on August 6, 2009 in Odate, Akita prefecture, Japan. The new puppy is the brother of 2-year old chihuahua 'Heart-Kun' who was also born with a perfect heart-shaped marking on his back from the same parents. (Photo by Pucchin Dog's via Getty Images)

• This photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society shows 10 African wild dog puppies, six males and four females, huddling with their mother, Kim, at Brookfield Zoo in Broofield, Ill. (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz)

• In this Thursday, May 19, 2011, photo, Bonnie, a basset hound, nurses her puppies at an animal rescue facility in South Knox County, Tenn. Bonnie and Clyde, the father of her puppies, are being cared for by At Risk Intervention animal rescue, after being saved from flood waters in Arkansas. (AP Photo/The Knoxville News Sentinel, Paul Efird)

• Two adopted stray dogs play at an animal shelter on December 15, 2006 in the outskirts of Xian of Shaanxi Province, China. The animal shelter, established by Chinese animal lover Dai Shuqing, is located at an abandoned warehouse which houses some 100 dogs and costs over 2,000 yuan (about US $255) per month. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

• Golden Retriever puppies with their handlers as the American Kennel Club officials announce their annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S January 27, 2010 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

• Susan Thomson holds a three-week-old Chihuahua puppy named Tom Thumb on April 7, 2009 in Renton, Scotland. An unofficial measurement taken by the owner makes Tom Thumb approximately 6 inches long. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

• A dog suckles her puppies on February 16, 2009 at Halikisla village of Kars, eastern Turkey near the border with Armenia. (MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

• A six month old Weimaraner puppy guards his master during Slovakia's national canine all breeds competition in Banska Bystrica on 6 May 2007. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

• Portuguese Podengo puppies are displayed for the media during the launch of the Crufts Dog Show Febuary 24, 2004 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

• A view of a puppy at the North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life Pet Adoption Event on April 26, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Comments

[MariaQuinn]

04:07 PM on 12/09/2011

Breed-specific legislation is, if I may say, a load of bull cookies. The quote in the article is quite correct, that it is the OWNER, not the BREED, that is the main determining factor of aggression. It is SO true with little dogs that are treated as Mummy's living stuffed animal. It's just sad. They're often badly-bred, ill-tempered, and not treated like DOGS.

I've seen "pit bulls" that are really just giant, drooling marshmallows. For every one of those, I've seen a whole handful of "toy" breed dogs that are frankly dangerous, but their behavior is tolerated because they're small and, for some godforsaken reason, considered cute.

And not every breed that is reputed to be good-natured will adhere to that reputation. My dad's Flat-Coated Retriever is sweet as sugar with people, but very aggressive towards other dogs, with the exception of our Beagle, Sadie. I've met a few retrievers with aggression problems due to bad breeding and lack of decisive communication from their people.

[xanadu4024]

02:10 PM on 12/09/2011

Pit Bulls DO get bad rap, instead of owning a Pit Bull a felony make it a possible felony to own a dangerous Pit Bull, if your dog is bad tempered or aggressive you should be held responsible AND if you have an aggressive animal you had better have control AND insurance against damage the animal can cause. But some reason needs to be exercised, I love Chow Chows but unlike a Pit they will lock their jaws and can unlock them even in heat of rage, unlike pit bulls which until unconscious will keep them locked, been there seen it. Saw a 75 lb Pit take a full contact Louisville Slugger to the head twice, bad thing was she was protecting her master from a bully not hurting innocent person. Then saw her partner pet a 35 lb Beagle take the arm of bat holder and break it. Guy got 10 yrs for human assault and 5 for animal cruelty! Most Pits are big stupid babies.

[Prometeo]

05:16 PM on 11/17/2011

This story makes me think again about Pit Bulls. I usually don't like them but with dogs like Titan around the Pit Bull PR may get a good rap.

[candice yaacobi]

12:58 PM on 11/07/2011

I am so happy to see that they are taking steps to prove that there are good pit bulls out there. I have one and she is the sweetest dog on earth. Great job Titan!

[med1brook1]

08:29 PM on 10/30/2011

Most dangerous on the planet : Man
1- Willing to kill his brother for his land.
2- Willing to kill because of skin color
3. Actively destroying his land by pollution.
4. Actively destroying his ocean by pollution
5. No respect for nature.
7. No respect for the animal kingdom.

Have the gall to say that an animal who acts on mostly on instint is dangerous but man who has been given the power to think on a high level will destroy this world and everything in it.

[sragan1065]

08:18 PM on 10/29/2011

It's the owner, not the dog, is a bunch of bull!

[Bioniclepluslotr]

12:21 PM on 12/09/2011

the owner would've walked out the door and gone to work and come back to find a dead person upstairs.

[Educationiskey]

01:28 PM on 10/29/2011

I love my PITBULL !!!!!!!!! Most loving dog I ever rescued !! Finally a story giving these smart sweethearts a thumbs up !!

[madisonhack]

10:16 AM on 10/29/2011

Pits are terriers first. Terriers have the genetics to work alone and without direction from human control. That particular trait is what needs to be managed by all terrier owners, whether a Staffordshire, American Pit, Jack Russell, Cairn, or Rat. They are all fiercely independent and should not be off-leash in an open environment FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY. I love terriers - born and bred to kill vermin.

[madisonhack]

10:07 AM on 10/29/2011

Great documentary lately on PBS about the origin and temperament of dogs.

[lacrosselamore]

12:40 AM on 10/29/2011

I am glad to see a good story about a Pit Bull. They can be a great dog for the right owner.

[filmzilla]

09:31 PM on 10/28/2011

dog is a man's best friend

[mike90069]

09:02 PM on 10/28/2011

Pit Bulls Make Wonderful Pets! As We All Know Its Not The Breed Of The Dog, Its The Breed Of The Owner!

[Bobby D DeLoach]

10:38 AM on 10/29/2011

You can shove your post up your ****

[casaroonc]

10:46 AM on 10/29/2011

YEP!

F&F

[RutherfordLaser]

01:19 PM on 10/29/2011

Such unprovoked violence! I didn't know pit bulls could type.

[harley87quinn]

03:08 PM on 10/28/2011

A REAL TITAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE THIS STORY

[ufopp]

11:35 AM on 10/28/2011

Most blame the owner and circumstances but not the dog or the breed. Why can't we do the same and show some empathy for republicans?

[lacrosselamore]

12:41 AM on 10/29/2011

Because you can teach a dog to crap outside.

[ufopp]

02:42 AM on 10/29/2011

Ha ha ha.

[casaroonc]

10:47 AM on 10/29/2011

LMFAO!

[lonestarlady36]

03:13 PM on 12/09/2011

lol- good one