Mr Morton said: 'At that point my main concern was the dog and his safety. I wasn't concerned if anything had been taken at that point, I just wanted to make sure he was going to be all right.'
He was rushed to the vet for emergency surgery. After a week recuperating he was finally discharged and this week was awarded a medal for his outstanding bravery.
Mr Morton, 23, an engineer with Silvercross Prams, said: 'We are just happy to have Toby. Normally he would not hurt a fly and is great with children.
'But that night something must have upset him and he was protecting his territory. He has fully recovered now, but still wakes up at the least little thing.'
Police later apprehended the would-be thief who told officers he did not know what was coming at him and had just lashed out.
Mr Morton of Barnoldswick, Lancashire, said: 'I'm just glad it wasn't one of the family that was stabbed. Toby was certainly looking after us.
'I looked out of the bed-room window and I could see a lad climbing over the fence, so I ran downstairs.
'When I got downstairs I just saw blood on the walls, and all the way down the carpet, then went outside to find Toby with his paws on the back fence, still trying to get him. Toby could have saved our lives.
'We all think he is a proper hero and worthy of all the fuss.'
Following the botched burglary in June 2007, which happened when the couple were staying in Leconsfield Barracks, near Beverley, North Yorkshire, the intruder later returned and tried to steal a neighbour’s car.
Mr Morton grabbed the man and held him until police arrived to arrest him. The offender was later jailed for three-and-a-half years after being convicted of aggravated burglary for the incident in June 2007.
Police were so impressed by the dog’s bravery they later nominated Toby for the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals’ gold award, which he and the Mortons collected in a ceremony in Blackpool earlier this week.