Amy Rice feared for her dog's life when a pit bull jumped over a fence into her yard and attacked him. So she took matters into her own mouth. Rice, 38, said she bit the pit bull on the nose after trying to pull the dog's jaws off her Labrador retriever, Ella.

"I didn't plan it, that's what happened. I broke the skin and had pit bull blood in my mouth," she said.

"I knew what happened, and I knew that it wasn't good."

The dog had jumped a fence to get into Rice's northeast Minneapolis yard, and Rice said she feared the pit bull would kill Ella. Rice said her doctor will have to determine whether she should get shots for rabies.

"I was sure that my dog was dying in my arms; it was horrible," she said.

The pit bull was quarantined. Ella, who is now afraid to go for walks, is recovering with staples and stitches to her head and a crushed ear canal.