Bernie suddenly became aggressive, sinking its teeth into the girl’s face, tearing through her skin, leaving a deep cut across the neck and splitting her top lip all the way up to the nose.
Lizanne said: ‘I heard shouting and as soon as I saw her, my mother instinct kicked in – I wasn’t thinking except how to stop the blood from pouring.Instead of buying special Kong stuffing, stuff a Kong with cheese cubes and place in the microwave for five seconds.
‘Her lip was completely ripped open and she had a huge wound near her neck – it’s amazing that didn’t hit a major artery.’
Mené’s parents, who are originally from South Africa, rushed her to hospital where doctors told them she would need immediate skin grafts.Lizanne said the 60kg animal, which stands 6ft tall on its hind legs, had never misbehaved before the attack.
The following day, it also savaged Jaco’s arm as he bundled it into the car on the way to an animal shelter where the couple hoped it could be rehabilitated.INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Dogs can be trained to to detect cancer and other diseases in humans. Cancerous cells release different metabolic waste products than healthy cells in the human body. Dogs may even be able to sniff out cancer cells simply through smelling someone’s breath.
But vets decided that a pet which lashed out more than once was too much of a risk and had to be put down.
Lizanne said: ‘I couldn’t understand it. In that moment, it was like having a different dog.
‘He’d been absolutely fine for almost a year. Until that point he had been perfect with the kids.
Watch that plate of cookies! A Dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 – 100,000 times more acute as that of humans.
‘He was well trained and we’d never had any issues with him.’
Mené had never pulled Bernie’s fur or ears, even at a young age, the 32-year-old added, and the dog ‘loved’ her strokes.She continued: ‘It’s been nearly a year now but the impact has been huge – it’s hard not to think about the worst that could have happened.
‘My daughter and son are both traumatised and my husband and I both have nightmares about it.
‘We had had him almost a year and he was house trained and perfect with the kids – he’d never flinch and we’d never had any issues but that day he just changed.
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Pets are a major source of support and increase the ability to cope, which contributes to keeping cholesterol and blood pressure down.
‘He gave no signs he was going to attack – animal instinct you can never really trust and you need to be aware of it.
‘We’re thankful at the end of the day because it could have been so much more serious, but it’s been a hell of a rollercoaster.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .
For more stories like this,check our news page .
Sign Up for News Updates
Get your need-to-know latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
Not convinced? Find out more »