Nicole de Wet had taken her dogs for their daily walk when another dog attacked them; Nicole’s Doberman jumped into protector mode and became a hero.
Johannesburg, South Africa (26 January 2022) – Dogs are a human’s best friend and will do anything to offer protection and comfort. That was the case when Nicole de Wet took her two dogs to the park, and her dog sprang into protection mode.
Nicole has Lillo, a Dachshund and Ivy, a Doberman. She always heads to the park when it’s quiet just to be safe; her biggest fear is something happening to her beloved animals. On this day, though, her fears became a reality.
“I took my two dogs to the park on Monday morning, and my worst nightmare came true… We were alone at the park we go to almost every day. It’s a nice clean, grass-cut, fenced park. We always make sure there is no one else, so we can be safe and have the place to ourselves. I just threw the first ball for the dogs, and out of nowhere this massive Boerboel came past and got hold of Lillo (my little Dachshund).
He pinned her down and seemed like he was swallowing her whole with those big jaws. Of course, her being as fiesty as she is, she made sure to get a few blows in, but did little to deter the big dog!”
Ivy, the Doberman, quickly sprung to protect Lillo and Nicole.
“The moment Ivy (my Doberman) realised that we were in danger, she snapped into protect mode. She ran full speed, and body slammed into the Boerboel that was attacking Lillo, and getting him off her. To give you an Idea, Ivy weighs in at 31kg, this Boerboel was hands down double her size in weight and muscle.
I, of course, lost it and was screaming like a banshee to try and recall, but she was set on protecting us. She didn’t once try and bite the dog, I’m sure if she did he would’ve retaliated and it would’ve ended much worse than it did. Nope, she kept low to the ground and kept barking and forcing the threat backwards. She got this big aggressive dog about 100m away from us, which gave me time to get Lillo in the car.
When Ivy realised the threat was no longer, she immediately turned around and sprinted to my side.”
Nicole rushed Lillo to the vet, where they assessed her injuries. She had wounds on her back and side and was clearly going into shock. Her gums had started going white. Dr Suzette at Greenside Animal Hospital took Lillo in and shared with Nicole that it was a good thing that the dog had not picked Lillo up and shook her around.
All her injuries on the surface were treatable; it was the worry of what was happening inside little Lillo. After X-rays, Dr Suzette sent Lillo home as she had no serious internal injuries.
Ivy the Doberman played such a vital role in keeping Lillo alive. Nicole was so proud to see her behave so bravely.
“I wanted to make this post to pay tribute to my hero, who undoubtedly saved at least one life that day. And I have tears in my eyes because I am so proud and grateful for Ivy.”