AN EDINBURGH schoolgirl was forced to fight off 14-stone 'bear-like' dog after it attacked her.

The 17-year-old managed to fend off the huge Tibetan Mastiff pedigree mutt with her rucksack despite being severely bitten on the forearm.

2 The dog's owner Cher Hardy with Teddy as a puppy

The youngster, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, had just left school when the 14-stone “large bear-like dog” savaged her earlier this year.

Passing motorists had to stop to help the “terrified and scared” teenager after she had been left “cowering on the pavement” following the attack.

The vicious dog - originally bred to protect livestock from attacks by wolves and bears - also attacked a pensioner who was only saved from the mauling when two workmen jumped in to rescue her.

The out of control pet jumped up and knocked Jane Humphreys, 73, to the ground before sinking its teeth into her arm and leg near to its owner’s home in the capital.

The OAP’s injuries are said to include a loss of “a significant amount of skin to her upper arm” as well as bite marks to her legs.

She is also said to have been left traumatised due to being “unable to get the the image of herself lying on the road being bitten by the dog out of her mind”.

2 Tibetan Mastiff Teddy has attacked three times

The huge pet Mastiff also launched an attack on third victim Fiona McHale, 53, who has been left with permanent scars and has left her scared of coming into contact with dogs.

The future of the 18-month-old Mastiff called Teddy is now in doubt after owner Cher Hardy, 31, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this month to admit losing control of the large beast on three occasions.

Sheriff Peter McCormack will decide the animal’s fate at a dog destruction hearing at the capital court next month.

The sheriff was handed a written narration which stated Hardy - who is a director of Edinburgh property letting firm H3 Lettings - imported the rare pedigree dog from Russia last year.

The narration described the three separate attacks which took place within 100 yards of the businesswoman’s home in the upmarket Murrayfield area of the capital this year.

Sheriff McCormack was told the dog has been seized by police and he deferred sentence on Hardy to next month.

Hardy pleaded guilty to being the owner of the Tibetan Mastiff, known as Teddy, which was dangerously out of control and untethered and unmuzzled when it lunged at and bit a 17-year-old girl on March 7 this year.

She also admitted to similar charges involving victims Fiona McHale and Jane Humphreys on May 3 and October 12 this year.

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All three attacks took place at the capital’s Murrayfield Road.

The Tibetan Mastiff was originally bred in the Far East to protect livestock from attacks by wolves, leopards, tigers and bears.

The male mastiffs can reach up to heights of 26 inches at the shoulder and weigh up to 200lbs and the breed is described as being devoted to their family but territorial with strangers.

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