Casper the sheepdog recovering after fighting off 8 coyotes attacking his flock

A dog named Casper is a very, very good boy.

The 2-year-old Great Pyrenees lives on a Decatur, Georgia, farm with his owner John Wierwille. Casper looks after Wierwille’s sheep and has proven himself to be excellent at his job.

When a pack of coyotes (which are normally solitary) found their way onto the property looking for a meal in early November, Casper got in their way. He fought the entire pack for more than 30 minutes, leaving eight of the animals dead and chasing off three more. However, after running the coyotes off, Casper also went missing.

Wierwille gathered friends to search for his dog and put out requests for neighbors to be on the lookout, to no avail. Fortunately, Casper made his way home after two grueling days, but he was not in good shape.

“It looked like a coyote grabbed his skin and peeled it right off,” Wierwille told Fox 5 Atlanta.

The farmer rushed his loyal canine to the emergency veterinarian for help. He shared details in a Facebook post.

“Some of you know that one of our livestock dogs killed eight of the eleven coyotes that attacked his flock a couple weeks ago before he chased them off and was torn up himself,” Wierwille wrote in the post. “None of his flock were injured, but he has critical wounds — a severed tail, deep puncture wounds, and two large patches of skin torn away. He has been in an emergency veterinary hospital since.”

Casper’s recovery was uncertain for a while, but his owner wasn’t ready to give up on him.

“The vet had some pretty serious conversations with us about whether or not [treatment] was worth it for him,” Wierwille told the Washington Post. “But … [Casper’s] not a normal dog. He’s tough, and he’s got a purpose, and he probably wants to get back to it.”

A nearby organization called LifeLine Animal Project stepped in to help, raising funds to cover $15,000 in medical expenses, which included amputating Casper’s tail, treating deep puncture wounds and repairing patches of torn skin.

Happily, Casper was back home recuperating in December — and learning about life as an indoor dog, as he has a lengthy recovery ahead. Hopefully, he’ll have some occasional company from Wiervielle’s other dogs, including Casper’s companion Daisy, who is pregnant and was also present during the coyote attack.

“We have to figure out what his new purpose will be,” Wierwille told the Washington Post. “It’s been a long road, and there’s a lot more road to go for us, but we’ll do it together. I’m glad to have him.”

In January, Wierwille shared some great news — Casper and Daisy’s puppies were born!

In reply to a comment on the post inquiring about Casper’s recovery, Wierwille shared that Casper was doing well but had some new habits — including jumping over fences — and he was working on retraining him.