An Olympia, Washington man who was attacked by a bear while jogging was released from the hospital Friday.

Bob, who asked not to use his last name, said his dog, Abby, was both the “culprit and the savior” in the attack.

“I heard her spook something up in the bushes,” Bob said.

Seconds later, Abby came running towards him with a black bear on her tail.

“I went to the side to get around a tree, and we danced a bit, and (the bear) came around the side and knocked me down,” Bob said. “After he batted me down and bit me in the leg and got my back, I just went into a ball. I didn’t know what to do.”

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife said that in a black bear attack, you should actually fight back aggressively with anything you can and aim for the bear’s eyes. In Bob’s case, Fish and Wildlife said he did the right thing because he had little notice of the attack and gave himself a chance to fight back by initially protecting himself.

The bear eventually backed off a bit and Bob got up to grab a stick to defend himself.

That’s when Abby showed up and distracted the bear, which took after her again.

“The dog was sort of the culprit and the savior for me,” Bob said.

Bob showed off some of the wounds the bear inflicted on his stomach, his side and on his legs. After the attack, he was bleeding pretty badly and had to walk about a mile to get help.

“I’m pretty good today,” Bob said on Friday. “I’d like to thank all the folks at Army Madigan Hospital. They did a great job fixing me up, and the military police were right on the scene; they did some triage on me.”

Abby is doing fine, too.

Story by Elaine Furst for Dog Files