The four-year-old terrier cross was eating her supper outside on Jan. 15 when a lone, black wolf sprang on her.

Her other owner Barbara Bertrand heard an unusual amount of barking -- other dogs from the neighbourhood commonly stop by at dinnertime -- and looked out her back window.

"All I saw was the wolf's head and Buddy's back feet," a horrified Bertrand recalled. "I told Jack, 'there's a wolf!'"

Yeadon, who was getting ready to take a shower, raced out the back door. He saw the wolf with Buddy firmly in his grasp.

"I knew (Buddy) was in trouble. I didn't wait for nothing," said Yeadon, who added that he felt a rage overtake him as he charged. "I'm lucky the wolf didn't turn around on me because I was totally defenceless. I was out there in my bare feet and no shirt."

When the wolf turned to flee, it didn't loosen its grip on Buddy. However, the 40-lb terrier cross was ripped from the predator's teeth as the wolf reached the end of Buddy's chain.

In bad shape

Yeadon retrieved his pet, which was bleeding profusely and unable to walk.

"She was ripped up pretty bad," he said, noting that Buddy had a number of canine puncture wounds in her chest and the back of her neck. With the nearest veterinarian in a two-hour drive away in Fort Nelson, B.C., Yeadon placed Buddy on an old coat in the furnace room to keep her warm until morning.

"I thought if she makes it through the night, O.K. I'll take her to the vet," Yeadon said. "The next morning she wagged her tail when she saw me."

Wrapping her tightly but gently in a towel, Yeadon made the trip to Fort Nelson, where Buddy received close to a dozen stitches and a prescription for some antibiotics.

Buddy died following the interview for this story.

He and Bertrand had heard of wolves being in and around Fort Liard before, but they had never spotted one in the community. Nonetheless, faced with the formidable predator, Yeadon knew he had to take action.

"She's a family member. Buddy is gentle with everybody," he said. "Obviously she's going to have a tale or two to tell when she gets back out there with the rest of the dogs."