Woman who had nostril bitten off by pet canine bred to hunt bears decides to maintain it

A dedicated dog trainer experienced a nasty surprise when when one of her beloved pooches bit her nose off.

Swedish influencer Charlotta Oskarsson was bitten by her Karelian Bear Dog ‘Prince’ when the dog got scared by a firework on New Year’s Eve. When Charlotta, 35, leaned over to wish her dog goodnight, Prince suddenly lunged at her and bit her nose.

The New Year’s nightmare left her nose severed, German news outlet Bild reported, and Charlotta was flown by helicopter to a clinic with the remnants of her severed nose.

Despite excruciating pain and surgery, an attempt to sew the nose back on was unsuccessful.

“I am 100% convinced that Prince did not want to hurt me, he was stressed and scared and behaved the way many dogs would behave in this situation,” she said.

Charlotta put on a brave face for her 45,000 Instagram followers and detailed her complex recovery. She was fitted with a new nose fitted using the skin from her forearm and further images showed the huge swelling in her head after the surgery.

Charlotta’s recovery is still ongoing, but her great new look and positive approach has earned her plenty of online admirers.

“I just heard about your story on the news, such a strong and stunning woman, best wishes from Germany,” one person wrote on a recent post from Charlotta.

Detailing why she and her husband decided to keep Prince, Charlotta said: “Many wonder what happened to the dog that bit me, if we still have him or if he was put to sleep. The short answer is that we still have him…

“Sure there are degrees in hell and sure you wish he had acted differently, but I don’t blame him anyway. He’s a dog, and I shouldn’t have put him in that situation.”

Charlotta added that Prince is a “gentle” dog, but becomes stressed by loud noises and doesn’t warn before she bites.

She said: “Prince lives a more restrictive life after the accident. For example, he is not allowed to sleep with us, and we give him even more space when he is tired or scared. We are careful not to put him or ourselves in difficult situations for him, and avoid close contact.

“This is of course nothing that is unique to Prince, there are lots of dogs who would bite, and bite, in a similar situation.

As a Karelian Bear Dog, Prince’s breed is used for hunting bears and moose and they should only be kept by expert dog owners.

The Finnish breed “was originally the dog of Russian and Finnish peasants, used for hunting and as a watch dog”, according to the American Kennel Club.

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