LILLIAN, Ala. — Norman T. Logan spent his 87th birthday baking fruit cakes and running errands. By his side the entire time was his 4-year-old lab Dolly, who wears a “best friend” tag on her collar. If you ask Logan how he made it to 87, he’d tell you it’s because of Dolly. She saved his life — twice.

About a year and a half ago, Logan accidentally set his woods off Beasley Road on fire. While trying to prevent the fire from spreading to the surrounding area, the fumes from the smoke became too much, and Logan became unconscious. Immediately before Logan passed out, he saw Dolly running around the edge of the fire.

“When I came to, I was out of the fire,” Logan said. “She was licking me in the face. I don’t know how I got out unless she pulled me. The shoulder on my jacket was torn. I could hardly move my shoulder. She just grabbed me and pulled me.”

When the ambulance arrived, Dolly’s protectiveness continued, making it difficult for the ambulance workers to get to Logan.

While he acknowledges there may be some doubters out there, Logan believes he knows the absolute truth.

“I don’t care what anybody says,” he said. “I know she pulled me out of that fire, and if she hadn’t, I’d be dead.”

Dolly was given to Logan by his daughter after she purchased twin puppies. She kept the other dog, named Dixie, and gave Dolly to Logan despite his initial reservations.

“My daughter said she could only get the dogs if she got them both,” he said. “She asked if I’d take the other one, but I didn’t know nothing about what kind of dog she was. Finally, I just said, ‘Bring her on over.’ I just took to her right away.”

After battling through a tough “puppy stage,” Dolly and Logan are now inseparable.

“She sticks to me like glue,” Logan said. “If I go to the bathroom, she comes with me. She feels real obligated to me. She sleeps at the foot of my bed. When I get up she gets up, and she stays where she can see me all the time.”

Only a few months after Dolly pulled Logan from a fire, she saved him again when a horse almost trampled him. While feeding his grand-daughters pony, the family miniature doberman ran into the stall and spooked a horse.

“The horse came out and knocked me out down on the ground. Dolly jumped over me and got in the front of the horse and scared him back so he wouldn’t step on me.”

While Dolly saved Logan from certain extreme injuries, he still required a hip replacement after the fall tore several muscles.

Logan returned the favor to Dolly, when she suffered kidney failure from dog food poisoning.

“I wondered whether she was going to make it or not,” Logan said. “I had the doctor at the kennel keep her for about a week and Dolly pulled through.”

Logan gives his life saver special baths and some steak everyday, but she won’t touch it unless he gives her permission.

“I’ve had lots of dogs,” Logan said. “I’ve had Huskies, German police dogs. This one, I’ve never had one this close to me; never had nothing like her. She’s my best friend.”