The dog took on the metre-high (three-feet) bear after it attacked the young boy.
A placid pet dog was being hailed a hero after saving a five-year-old boy from a mauling by a wild bear in northern Japan, police and media said Tuesday.
The dog, a six-year-old shiba inu,
took on the metre-high (three-feet) bear after it attacked the young boy during a riverside walk with his great-grandfather.The dog barked "unusually loud" and chased off the animal on Saturday evening in Odate, some 550 kilometres (340 miles) north of Tokyo, a local police spokesman said.
"The boy suffered slight bruises and was taken to hospital but he was released on the same day," the spokesman said.
The boy s 80-year-old great-grandfather, who was a short distance away near his car, raised the alarm.
Local media identified the dog as a six-year-old bitch named "Mego" ("Cute").