Not only is a dog man’s best friend; this one is also a hero to a newborn baby girl.

Roger Wilday was walking his german Shepherd, Jade, off leash through a park in Birmingham, England. It was cold, and the park was empty. Jade suddenly headed for the bushes and wouldn’t respond to her owner’s calls. She lay down next to a bag and wouldn’t move.

Wilday knew he had to investigate with his usually-obedient dog not coming when he called her. “She wouldn’t leave until I’d seen it,” Wilday said.

“I walked over and saw a carrier bag — then I saw it move,” Wilday recounted. “I thought it was a bag of kittens, but then I saw her little arms and a head, and the baby started to cry.”

A dog hero, just in time

Wilday ran to a friend’s house nearby to call the police. They brought the baby girl to the hospital, where she was checked and found to be 6 pounds, to have her umbilical cord still attached, and to be less than 24-hours old. Pediatricians confirmed that had the baby not been discovered, she probably would have perished in the cold within a few hours.

A gem of a name

Staff members named the baby girl “Jade” after her rescuer, the 9-year-old German Shepherd.

“Jade’s never found anything before,” said Wilday’s wife, Catherine. “She must have heard the baby crying as these dogs have very good hearing, plus she’s very keen on our grandchildren.”

Police are searching for the baby’s mother and released pictures and video of the “alert, happy and contented” little girl, who’s still recovering in the hospital.

The Wildays, who have four children and five grandchildren, are hoping to get the chance to visit baby Jade.