Shetland Sheepdog Saves Owner from Bear Attack

When a teen girl took her two dogs for a walk in the woods near her house, an aggressive black bear tried to attack her. But her Shetland Sheepdog, Sophie, stepped in to protect her master—and almost died in the process.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on May 18 2009

Black Bear. Image Credit: Wikipedia

Two weeks ago, 19-year-old Tierney Tredo took her two dogs for a pleasant walk in the woods near her home in Penhook, Virginia. But this particular walk wasn’t what she’d bargained for.

Tredo could tell something wasn’t right when one of her dogs, a mixed-breed named Cheyenne, disappeared behind some trees for several minutes.

“Cheyenne was in the thicket about five minutes before she came running out, tail tucked between her legs. She was hollering,” Tredo told the Franklin News Post.

“Then I saw a shadow behind her and thought it was another dog,” she said. As the animal came closer, she realized her mistake: it wasn’t a dog, but a black bear.

Though black bears are typically shy and tend to avoid human contact, this one meant business. “The big dog may have posed a threat when it entered the woods, causing the bear to follow it into the open,” Lt. Karl Martin of Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries explained.

The four-foot tall bear lumbered towards Tredo and her 9-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, Sophie. “It started toward me, and Sophie got in front of me and started barking,” she recalled. “And I kept yelling ‘Get away, bear!’”

For several minutes, Tredo was in a stand-off with the bear, with her dog Sophie standing in front of her as a bodyguard. Then, in a surprise move, Sophie chased the dog into the woods.

“Sophie looked back at me and barked like she was telling me to leave,” said Tredo. “I ran a little way, and I heard the dog holler. I knew then the bear had gotten hold of her.”

Tredo ran home to summon her grandmother, Mary Plunkett, for help. Plunkett got into her truck and began beeping the horn in an effort to scare off the bear before it could do serious damage to the family’s beloved dog.

Fortunately, it turned out that Sophie was still alive—but the bear had put a deep gouge into Sophie’s side. The family rushed her to the vet for treatment, paying more than $1,000 in medical bills for emergency surgery. When Sophie’s injuries turned out to be more severe than previously thought, her vet gave her additional treatment for no extra charge.

Tredo is grateful that her loyal Sheepdog withstood the attack, and knows that the dog was willing to sacrifice her life to save her owner. But something tells us that both of them will be staying out of those woods for quite some time to come.

Filed under: Animals and Pets, Heroes,

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