How puppy 'saved sleeping owner's life' after chewing his toe to the bone

A retired builder credited his seven-month-old bulldog with saving his life after the pup chewed his big toe 'to the bone' and left the nail hanging off while he was sleeping.

Now I know what you're thinking - not everyone would react so graciously to their dog making a meal out of one of their body parts.

In fact, most dogs would get in big trouble for even attempting such a stunt - but not little Harley.

The dog became part of David Lindsay's family after the former builder lost his two large Neapolitan Mastiff dogs in 2022, prompting him to look for a new four-legged member of the family.

One day, after Harley had been welcomed into David's home, the owner went for a snooze on the sofa and woke up to his wife screaming.

Harley the dog hadn't been in the family for long (SWNS)

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

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

Naturally, this might make you wonder why such a painful-sounding experience, complete with a hanging toenail, didn't wake up David, but this is where the life-saving part comes in.

The dad-of-five explained: "Because of all this, I discovered that my foot is completely numb, I can't feel anything."

David's wife wrapped up his bloody toe and rushed him to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridgeshire, where he was put on intravenous antibiotics to stop an infection caused by the dog bite from spreading to his bone.

Harley's actions helped David catch the blockages (SWNS)

Doctors also conducted CT scans while treating David, who is also a grandfather to 11 grandchildren, and were able to determine the reason David couldn't feel anything was because he had not one, but two blocked arteries.

The blockages could put David's whole leg in danger of needing amputation if the blood supply wasn't returned.

Thanks to Harley's mischief, David was able to be assessed for stents, which would open up the arteries and allow the blood flow to return to his leg.

"You've got to laugh about it. He's done me a favour by chewing my toe," David said of the pup, who he assured he would be 'keeping'.

"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!," he joked.