Taking home a rescue dog and giving it a forever home can be one of the most fulfilling moments of anyone’s life. These animals often come from bad homes and have a history of abuse, so to finally give them room to run, good food to eat, and lots of love is truly a gift better than any other.

So, when a family in Australia decided to take an abused Doberman named Khan into their home, they couldn’t be happier. The poor Doberman had had a hard life growing up, so mama Catherine promised she was going to do everything she could to make sure that he felt like a part of their family.

But on the fourth day in his new forever home, Catherine saw the Doberman acting strange around her 2-year-old daughter named Charlotte. He was pushing her around in the backyard, and before Mom could do anything, her little girl went flying through the air.

Mom must have been horrified for those first few seconds, but things got even stranger when Khan let out a yelp that sounded like he had been stabbed. That’s when Mom saw the unthinkable…

He seemed more aggressive than she’d ever seen. Mom knew that Khan had been abused in his previous home, and suddenly, there must have been a fear. Khan was pushing the little girl around and snapping his teeth.

Before Mom had the chance to react, Khan grabbed Charlotte by her diaper and threw her a few feet across the yard. But suddenly, Mom heard a horrible yelp of pain.

Khan had been bitten in the paw by a king brown snake. Australia is home to some of the world’s deadliest animals, and this snake’s venom can kill a human easily. A girl of Charlotte’s age and size could have had potentially deadly consequences.

But Khan, bitten in the paw, kept the snake at bay. He stood between his little girl and the deadly creature. Barking at it angrily, in spite of the venom coursing through his veins, this amazing dog scared away the snake before collapsing.

The story was so amazing of a dog’s love and bravery, that soon enough his story was going viral. He was in news stories all around the world and it’s no surprise why people were naming him “Khan the Wonder Dog”.