Dog escapes alligator's jaws thanks to owner's dad

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - A golden retriever is recovering after being attacked by an alligator. Buddy Ackerman said he was walking his daughter's dog, Osi when a gator lunged out of the pond and grabbed the dog's hind legs.

"I just started kicking at the alligator's snout and after two or three kicks he opened up and let go of the dog," Ackerman said.

Trappers later caught a 7-foot-long gator they believe attacked the dog, but some neighbors aren't so sure. Soon after, they spotted a larger gator in the pond, which is a common site around the condo complex.

Neighbors recorded video weeks earlier showing a gator thrashing in the water as it snapped down on a turtle.

It was a scary encounter for Ackerman, but he says he was determined to not to let to go of the dog's leash harness.

"I was aggravated at the thing. I said, 'How dare you do this? Now, you're making me mad!' so if I had a club or something I would have been whacking it," Ackerman said.

Meanwhile, Osi escaped without a scratch.

"He whimpered a little bit and was sore, but there's no broken skin, nothing, and he was up running around like nothing happened," Osi's owner, Jody Ackerman said.

Neighbors have requested for the trapper to come back and try to catch the other alligator. No word yet if they plan to do so.