Heroic family dog saves toddler from snake bite

Video: Family dog credited with saving toddler from copperhead bite

A Sevier County, Tennessee toddler has his very best friend and furriest family member to thank for saving his life.

Shiloh the dog and 18-month old Bryson Holloway, like many kids and their dogs, are unseparable.

“They just do everything together,” Bryson’s father Bryan Holloway told WATE. “As much as he loves everybody else, those two, the baby and that dog, have a bond.”

Shiloh’s love for his human brother was apparent when Bryson, heading outside to play fetch with his best friend, started to step off the porch. That’s when Shiloh stepped in.

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“Shiloh jumped up and took off after him,” Bryan explained. “He lunged right towards the baby and at the baby’s feet, and when he did he kind of jerked back.”

Shiloh noticed the venomous snake before anyone else, before little Bryson stepped off the porch. The copperhead snake was mere inches away from Bryson. Shiloh jumped between the two.

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“Turning his head to the side and shaking his head and you could tell he’d been hurt, that the snake had gotten him,” Bryan Holloway said. “As furry as he is, and he has so much fur around his neck, you could visibly see the swelling.”

Following a full round of antibiotics and pain medicine, Shiloh is fully recovered from the snake bite. The family is still in awe of what their heroic dog did that day. At only 24-pounds, a copperhead bite could easily have killed young Bryson.

Video: Family dog saves toddler from a snake

“We give God the glory in everything, and we know that he used that dog, that wonderful dog, to protect him, and we’re thankful every day for him now,” Alicia Holloway said.

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