A couple hiking in South Dakota with their 11-year-old Yorkshire Terrier last Friday encountered a rattlesnake on their journey.
Neither Devin Diede nor his wife Alex had noticed the rattlesnake, but their dog Bear noticed and was bitten by the creature, KEVN reported.
“Alex would have stepped on the snake and bit her [sic] if Bear had not been there to take the bite,” Devin said.
The snake did not rattle at all until after it attacked Bear, so at first, the couple was not even sure their beloved canine companion was bitten.
He did not bark or make a sound after the bite, and the couple could not find the puncture wounds
But once they laid him down and noticed he could not bear weight on his front leg, they knew that Bear had to be seen by a veterinarian immediately.
By the time they made it to the vet, Bear could not walk.
“Thankfully, the veterinarians and technicians at the emergency animal clinic in Rapid City were wonderful. The vet took him and immediately started a blood transfusion,” Devin said.
The vet determined that the rattlesnake bite was on Bear’s chest near his shoulder and there was only one puncture wound.
Twenty-four hours later, the vet called and said Bear was well enough to go home.
“He’s doing surprisingly well. He’s walking around just fine and as happy as could be. He’s a tough little guy and most definitely a hero,” Devin said.
Bear is not the only hero dog to take a snake bite for his owner. In 2018, a Golden Retriever named Todd saved his owner Paula while on a walk in Arizona from a rattlesnake, and in 2017, a boxer protected a ten-year-old from a rattlesnake in California.
Both dogs made a full recovery from their snake bites.
