Puppy 'saved owner's life' after chewing his toe to the bone while he was sleeping

A puppy was lauded for saving his 'owner's life' after chewing his toe to the bone while he was sleeping.

Dog owners will know their pets will chew anything they can get their paws on, which can be a bit of a nightmare when the dog is munching on the tickets for that gig you were meant to be going to next week.

However, they can sometimes come to some use for their biting habits.

David Lindsay loves his pup, Harley, a bulldog; and this floppy-eared friend looks totally harmless, but that all changed one time as David was sleeping.

When he was having a little nap on the couch, his pooch decided to strike on an unexpected area.

Harley became hero of the hour (SWNS)

"I was asleep on the couch when my wife walked in and shouted, 'Dave, the puppy's chewing your toe!" he recalled.

"My puppy had near enough chewed my big toe off! It chewed down to the bone and cracked it."

Now, most people would wake up if a dog started sinking its teeth into your foot, but David didn't notice one bit.

"Because of all this, I discovered that my foot is completely numb, I can't feel anything," David explained.

The dad-of-five, from the UK, immediately rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital after waking up to find his toe in pieces and was put on intravenous antibiotics to stop an infection caused by the dog bite from spreading to his bone.

Doctors also conducted CT scans for his fractured toe and discovered that David had not one, but two blocked arteries - which is why he couldn’t feel anything.

The findings meant that David's entire leg could have been in danger of needing amputation if the blood supply wasn't returned.

Harley chewed David's toe almost to the bone (SWNS)

Thanks to Harley's decision to chow down on his foot, doctors could get to work and repair it before things got crazy.

Instead of being annoyed at his dog for chewing his toe to bits, David was grateful and adored Harley even more for it.

He claimed that the dog had 'done [him] a favour' by chewing his toe, and made clear he has no plans to get rid of the pup because of it.

"I'm waiting to find out if they can put stents in. I'll be keeping the dog," he said.

"I'll try to keep my toe too, but if not I told the doctor to cut it off and I can take it home for him!"

David had to stay in the hospital for more than a week after Harley chewed his toe, but was eventually reunited with his dog.