Christian Langham, 46, said his 13-year-old dog Zac was off-leash in the fenced area of Wickham Park when a large mastiff-type dog belonging to another park-goer jumped on Zac, a greyhound cross american bulldog.

"Zac was just there wagging his tail saying 'Hello' to this other dog, next thing Zac was on the ground and the dog was mauling him around the neck," Mr Langham said.

"I have had Zac since he was a puppy, he's part of my family. He has arthritis and can hardly walk. It was just my natural instinct to want to protect him."

The attack occurred two weeks ago and Mr Langham is still recovering from the wound on his arms and fingers, sustained when he tried to shield Zac from the biting dog.

"I put my hands in the wrong place," he said. "When I pulled them out I noticed there was quite a lot of blood.

"I wouldn't say the dog was trying to attack me personally. If I stayed away I wouldn't have had these injuries but who knows the damage he would have done to Zac."

Mr Langham said his pooch came out of the incident with only a "couple of little marks" on his neck. However, Mr Langham spent two days and two nights at John Hunter Hospital on an intravenous drip of antibiotics and underwent surgery.

"They cut open the wounds even further, under anaesthetic, to clean them out. If you get a dog bite the risk of infection is high and that can be serious if it gets to the bone," he said.

Mr Langham said two weeks of taking "heavy antibiotics" had impacted his performance at work and mental health.

He said he would be reporting the incident to council.

"The main thing is for this not to happen to anyone else," he said.

The cars salesman called on dog owners to take responsibility for their pets' behaviour.

"You have to train your dog from an early age or you're going to have problems. People have to be aware of the commitment of looking after an animal, and treat them with love and respect," he said.

A spokeswoman for the City of Newcastle advised residents to report dog attacks "immediately" so a ranger could attend.

"An after-hours on-call service is available," she said.

Generally, animal groups advise not to intervene in attacks but to try to distract dogs from a distance.

While you're with us, did you know the Newcastle Herald offers breaking news alerts, daily email newsletters and more? Keep up to date with all the local news - sign up here.

IN THE NEWS