Family dog saves toddler from snake bite

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — A family dog saved the life of a little boy while the pair were in the front yard of their home in Sevierville, Tennessee.

WATE reported that 18-month-old Bryson Holloway stepped off the porch as a snake approached from a nearby bush.

Shiloh, the family dog, jumped into action, stepping in between Bryson and the snake.

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

Bryan Holloway told WVLT he thought the dog was going to attack his son at first, but soon realized what happened when Shiloh appeared to be hurt.

“I knew it was a copperhead,” Bryan Holloway said.

The copperhead bit Shiloh on the neck.

“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.”

WATE reported that Shiloh was given antibiotics and pain medicine and has since recovered.

"Bryson started running back and forth on the porch and started laughing and smiling and the Lord spoke to me and said, 'I protected this baby, I put this dog right there to protect your child,'" mom Alicia Holloway told WVLT. "Since Shiloh protected him, I couldn't love this dog any more ... he's been babied a whole lot since this has happened because we're very very grateful for him."

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