Small dog survives lion attack

A little dog survived a scary moment with a mountain lion last week at a private residence in Glacier National Park.

John Hoag said his dog, Max, a Shih Tzu, was nabbed by a lion in the driveway of the family’s summer compound on Lake McDonald on June 30.

Hoag said the dog, which only weighs 10 to 15 pounds, was running down the driveway when the lion pounced on it and pinned the dog to the ground. The lion was about to bite the dog when Hoag yelled at the cat and waved his arms from about 20 feet away.

Hoag said there was about a 30-second standoff where the lion just looked at him. It then let the small dog go and loped away.

The lion first tried to jump a fence around the house but couldn’t make it so it sat there for a couple of minutes. Hoag threw some rocks in the lion’s direction, and it went through an opening in the fence.

The dog received some lacerations to the skin and a few bite marks but had no serious injuries.

“The dog was very lucky,” Hoag said.

The area on Lake McDonald is heavily wooded, and lion encounters are not an uncommon occurrence in the area, although seeing one can be. Lions are generally very secretive creatures, but the area has a healthy deer population.

In fact, Hoag said he didn’t think any lions were around, since he had just seen a deer walk through the yard before the lion attacked the dog.

Park officials posted signs in the area warning about mountain lions. Visitors are advised not to hike alone and to keep an eye on small children.

Lion attacks on humans in Glacier Park are extremely rare. The last known one was in the 1990s.