Bulldog puppy 'saved owner's life' after chewing his toe to the bone while he slept

As any dog lover will know, nothing is off limits for an excited puppy who wants to chew everything in sight.

Your sofa? Consider it consumed. Your favourite shoes? Say goodbye to those babies.

And it turns out puppies also reckon that human toes are a decent thing to gnaw their teeth on - as pet owner David Lindsay found out the hard way.

The retired builder, 65, explained that he had dozed off on the couch in his living room when he was suddenly woken up by his wife screaming at the top of her lungs in horror.

The bemused father-of-five, from Cambridge, was left wondering what all the fuss was about - until he looked down at his feet to find his bulldog, named Harley, going to town on his trotters.

David Lindsay's dog managed to fracture his toe by gnawing on it as he slept (SWNS)

He explained: "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."

You might be wondering why on earth this excruciating pain didn't disturb David from his afternoon nap, which is exactly what he was concerned about - and the whole saga led him to quite the shock health revelation.

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

After rushing himself to Addenbrooke's Hospital with his mangled toes in 2023, the former construction worker discovered that little Harley was actually something of a hero thanks to his chewing habits.

First, medics put David on intravenous antibiotics to stop any potential infection caused by the dog bite from spreading to his bone, before he then underwent CT scans to assess the damage to his fractured toe.

Doctors then found that David had not one, but two blocked arteries in his leg, which is why it had gone numb.

But the adorable pup actually did his owner a huge - and lifesaving - favour (SWNS)

He was informed that he was at risk of losing his leg if the blood supply was not returned - but thankfully, Harley chomping down on his foot had come at exactly the right time.

The cute, floppy-faced pup had inadvertently saved David's life by getting a bit too excited by his owner's toes.

Doctors were then working to determine whether the dad could have stents fitted, which would open up the arteries and allow the blood flow to return to his leg.

The whole ordeal only left David more grateful to have Harley - and he proudly praised the pup for saving his life.

"You've got to laugh about it," David added at the time. "He's done me a favour by chewing my toe.

"I'm waiting to find out if they can put stents in. I'll be keeping the dog. 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 remained in hospital for over a week before he was discharged and allowed to head home to his heroic dog.