Catherine Svillicic, a resident of Atherton in Australia, learned that she made the right choice when after adopting her rescue dog Khan.

Khan is a Doberman.

He’s got the intimidating stature, dark coat, and pointy ears that we all recognize in the breed.

Svillicic had a (then) 1-year old daughter, Charlotte, who’d come to spend lots of time with Khan.

Khan had a shaky and rough past.

The Doberman was a survivor of animal abuse and suffered some broken ribs and other injuries. It goes to show that looking strong and intimidating doesn’t mean you can’t be vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment.

Catherine knew she was taking a chance with Khan.

A big, strong dog with a history of abuse might not adjust too well to a new home. Catherine’s baby girl also brought other concerns to the table.

Dobermans have “protective” and “loyal” in their blood. As they say, there are no bad dogs – only bad owners. Khan was a very sweet and loyal dog who wouldn’t harm anyone he loved.

(Note: the Doberman pictured above is not Khan).

But Khan would later prove that he was capable of the extraordinary.

A 1-year old child needs a ton of supervision and company. They’re curious and clueless and are nearly always walking into danger and waiting for a grownup to save them. This happened with Charlotte, but this incident wasn’t very cute or funny.

Hardly a week had passed since Khan’s adoption, and he already found himself proving his love and loyalty to his new family members.

He was out with Charlotte on that fateful week when Charlotte’s mother immediately noticed something fishy about his behavior.

Khan seemed uneasy and was nudging Charlotte repeatedly.

He was trying to tell Charlotte something. If only Catherine knew what exactly it was. She got her answer pretty quickly.

After the nudging did nothing, Khan suddenly grabbed Charlotte by the diaper and tossed her over his shoulder.

The 1-year old flew through the air and landed behind the dog.

Catherine was mortified and shocked.

Well, it wasn’t long before Catherine’s emotions switched to realization and gratitude instead. She looked down and saw a King Brown snake – a venomous specimen – right where Charlotte had been sitting moments before.

This is Australia, after all.

Khan, in reality, was trying to get Charlotte out of harm’s way. When all else failed, his last desperate act was to throw Charlotte away and to jump in front of the snake – and it worked.

He risked his life to a venomous snake to protect the 1-year old.

If the initial sight was shocking to Catherine already, then the realization of the actual details probably gave her more of a shock.

Khan suffered a bite from the snake, the price for saving Charlotte.

He was rushed to a veterinarian and given anti-venoms until he recovered. Australia is notorious for its wealth of equally beautiful and deadly wildlife – and Khan’s close encounter with one member of the cast was a pretty close call.

At least Catherine doesn’t have to doubt Khan’s trusting and loyal nature now. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have to jump in front of any more snakes from now on.

Hear about Khan’s life-saving moment in the video below!

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Source: Veterinarians.org, celeb902 on YouTube, Pseudechis australis on Wikipedia