Sometimes Lassie Isn't a Collie

Sometimes Lassie is a Bichon Frisé.

Lexi the dog really is Charles Postler's best friend, and he says she always will be.

"She's also a real heroine," Postler said of the 5-year-old Bichon Frise who led rescuers to him after he collapsed in his Brooklyn apartment and lay helpless for hours Wednesday.

Resting in his bed at Lutheran Medical Center, the 85-year-old Postler said Thursday he'll be "forever grateful" to Lexi and that she deserves all the praise she's getting for her Lassie-like feat.

Lexi will be recognized with prayers and declared an "honorary saint" next month at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, where Postler has been a deacon for 35 years.

"We're also grateful," said Msgr. Joseph Nagle of St. Patrick's in Fort Hamilton.

The leashed fluffy white pooch was headed out for a stroll about 8 a.m. from her Bay Ridge building when she heard Postler's faint cries and pulled her owner, Linda Deutsch, 45, to his apartment door.

Deutsch and the building's super entered the apartment, found Postler and called 911 for help.

Let's see a cat do that.

Here's Lexi, rather walleyed, but still a hero dog: