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

If you’ve ever owned a puppy, you’ll know they chew everything they can get their paws on, but it turns out one pup's naughty antics saved his owner's life.

David Lindsay loves his pup, Harley, a bulldog; and this floppy-eared friend looks totally harmless.

That’s until you hear what he did while David was asleep.

When he was having a little nap on the couch, his dog decided to strike.

He recalled: "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."

David says the puppy helped him find out about blocked arteries. (SWNS)

Now, most people would wake up if a dog started sinking its teeth into your foot, but the fact David didn’t even notice is particularly concerning.

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

The dad-of-five, from the UK, immediately rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital after waking up to find his toe in pieces and was put on intravenous antibiotics to stop an infection caused by the dog bite from spreading to his bone.

Doctors also conducted CT scans for his fractured toe and discovered that David had not one, but two blocked arteries - which is why he couldn’t feel anything.

The findings meant that David's entire leg could have been in danger of needing amputation if the blood supply wasn't returned.

Thanks to Harley's decision to chow down on his foot, doctors could get to work and repair it before things got crazy.

Harley chewed David's toe almost to the bone. (SWNS)

Instead of hating his dog for chewing his toe to bits, David was grateful and adored Harley even more for it.

He claimed that the dog had 'done [him] a favour' by chewing his toe, and David made clear he has no plans to get rid of the young pup because of it.

"I'm waiting to find out if they can put stents in. I'll be keeping the dog," he said.

"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!"

David had to stay in the hospital for more than a week after Harley chewed his toe, but was able to return home to his happy pup.