Every dog has its day… And Pudsey's day was a big one.

The lovable pooch and his 17-year-old trainer, Ashleigh Butler, were the overall winners of this season of Britain's Got Talent, the reality television show that picks one variety performer to perform for the Queen – with a £500 000 prize.

Pudsey and Ashleigh became firm favourites with the judges after their Flinstones-inspired audition in early April – with judges Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon all voting the pair through to the next round.

Watch their audition below:

In the semi-final round, the dynamic duo performed an Artist-inspired routine in a nod to that other firm canine favourite – Uggie, the star of the Oscar-winning film The Artist. All four judges in that round voted Asheligh and Pudsey into the final.

Watch their semi-final performance below:

"Our goal was to get into the final and when we were the last two, with [fellow competitors] Jonathan and Charlotte, I honestly thought they had won it. I was preparing myself to jump on them and congratulate them. So it was a complete shock when our names were called out," Ashleigh said in an interview with Daybreak.

But Ashleigh and Pudsey thrilled the judges – and the public – to win the grand prize with their Mission: Impossible skit.

Watch it below:

Pudsey – a border collie, bichon frise and Chinese crested cross whom Ashleigh has owned since she was 11 years old – also won over the famously mean Cowell, who said that the pair was one of his "favourite ever acts".

Ashleigh revealed that six-year-old Pudsey was enjoying his new-found fame.

"He is loving it. The more attention he gets, the more he loves it.

"He is a bit tired at the moment, so I think he needs just a good couple of days' rest. But he is brilliant."

She also joked that Pudsey had become "very diva-ish" and was demanding steak dinners.