Hero dog's tale to become a film

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Mr Parton described Endal as a "wonder-dog"

The story of how a labrador dog helped an injured Gulf War veteran rebuild his life is to become a film.

Endal, who died aged 13 in March, looked after Allen Parton, an ex-Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer, who suffered serious injuries in 1991.

The dog was able to respond to more than 200 instructions, such as loading and emptying the washing machine at Mr Parton's home in Clanfield, Hampshire.

Now the rights to Mr Parton's memoirs have been bought by a film producer.

Simon Brooks, who has written and made films such as White Noise with Michael Keaton, bought the rights to the story from publisher Harper Collins.

He saw the story in a Sky documentary about eight weeks ago, then discovered Mr Parton and his wife, Sandra, both 50, had written an international best-selling memoir.

He was awarded Dog of the Millennium for being able to put a card in the cash machine and take it out again Allen Parton

In the book, called Endal, Mr Parton chronicles how the dog helped with his recovery after he spent years in hospital and fell into a coma.

He even saved Mr Parton's life when he fell out of his wheelchair.

Mr Parton told BBC News: "When I couldn't speak, he could read my sign language. He instinctively knew what to do.

"He was awarded Dog of the Millennium for being able to put a card in the cash machine and take it out again. Endal was the help that I needed for the healing process."

When Mr Parton woke from his coma he could not remember marrying his wife or having his children.

'Good therapist'

"Emotionally, I'd lost all contact with my family - I couldn't remember them," he said.

So Mrs Parton suggested they remarried. The couple said Endal played a huge part in bringing them back together.

"Endal was very gentle, nurturing me every day and encouraging me to do things," Mr Parton said.

Endal was able to perform many duties for his owner

"He was a good therapist."

Mr Parton now has a new assistance dog, a 16-month-old puppy called EJ who he says is still "a little bit giggly".

"When Endal went, I thought I was going to be instantly disabled but EJ didn't let that happen."

Mr Parton said it was "absolutely incredible" to have a film made about Endal and joked he wanted to be played by Brad Pitt.

Juliette Towhidi, who wrote Calendar Girls, is writing the script.

Mr Brooks told the BBC: "I caught the last six or seven minutes of the documentary and was enthralled by it and thought that would be a great movie.

"If we're lucky, maybe the film would shoot next summer."