Man says dog saved him from black bear

Jason Schindler says he wouldn't be alive if it were not for his dog, Dude. The 27-year-old rural Cataract man said the 8-year-old mixed-breed hound jumped between him and an attacking black bear Thursday night, saving his life but giving up his own. The animal sustained at least 28 puncture wounds to his chest and neck, he said. "I'd hate for someone else's dog to go through what mine did," he said. Schindler and his wife, Kimberly, buried the dog with a blanket and pillow the next day, using a rented jackhammer to dig the grave in the frozen soil. He said he heard the dog yelping loudly Thursday after dark and went out to see what was happening. Suddenly, "all I saw was this dark thing lunging at me," Schindler said. But his dog jumped between the two and was quickly snatched up in the bear's jaw, he said.