Florida Man Kicks Alligator to Save Daughter's Dog

“I hit him a couple of times in the snout and that’s what caused him to let go, perhaps," the man said

When Buddy Ackerman took his daughter’s golden retriever, Osi, out for a bathroom break, he didn’t give it a second thought.

“He walked along … walked along here and I’m just coming with him,” Ackerman said. “And he settles on right where there’s no grass down there.”

There is a small pond behind Ackerman’s condominium in Palm Harbor, located in Florida's Pinellas County by the Gulf Coast, WFLA reports.

Out of nowhere, an alligator came and chomped down on Osi’s hind legs that Monday morning. Ackerman grabbed Osi’s leash and began having a tug-of-war with the alligator.

“And I just start kick, kicking at the alligator,” Ackerman said. “I hit him a couple of times in the snout and that’s what caused him to let go, perhaps. I hope so, I don’t know. ”

Ackerman called an alligator hotline and a trapper came to capture a gator from a nearby pond. Ackerman assumes that gator is the one that attacked Osi, but neighbors reported seeing another, even larger gator in that same pond.

Remarkably, Osi wasn’t hurt. Ackerman’s daughter now has the dog back in the Orlando area.

Ackerman said he's thankful Osi is OK. He knows a tragic outcome was possible.

“I mean, I had this dog on a collar or a halter that went around. It wasn’t going to slip off,” said Ackerman. “If I had had a regular collar at that and it slipped off … he would’ve been gone. “

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