At bull's mercy then - Oops!

WHAT do you do when faced with a charging bull?
Be grateful you've got a little Oops, especially when he's your faithful heading dog, says Norsewood's Simon Domper. "I'd be dead and buried if it wasn't for Oops," Mr Domper said.
Oops saved his life after a walk to feed ducks ended in a desperate struggle for survival when a bull charged, tossing Mr Domper into the air.
"I hadn't really considered the bull a danger when I went down to feed the ducks on the pond. I thought nothing about turning my back on him," he said.
"I saw the bull standing there, but turned my back on him to feed the ducks. It was my own fault. This time of year, all the bulls are on edge.
"The animal charged me and flipped me up in the air a few metres. When I landed on the ground, it tried to pick me up again; it cracked a couple of my ribs and bruised me all over my front. It was really trying to bury me.
"I stuck my fingers up its nose and pinched really hard, my other arm was reaching up around its head. Luckily, the bull threw back his head to get away from the pain in his nose and pulled me to my feet.
"Then Oops arrived; he really saved my life. He bit the bull on the nose and it was just enough to distract it and I was away and over the fence. Did you know humans can fly?" he said and chuckled.
"Then Oops must have thought, 'the boss is safe, I'm away too' and he came through the fence."
Three other excited bulls were in the paddock he landed in and he wasn't about to come within a bull's roar of them: "I had to jump another fence before they decided to get involved! I got home before I realised how hurt I was. I was black and blue all over."
The bull fared worse.
"We were on the phone that same day, calling in the farm-kill butcher. I wasn't letting it be triumphant, it was on the barbecue that night. The rest of it is in the freezer."
Oops got a good feed of steak and sausages that night - "much better than only bull's nose".
Mr Domper prefers heading dogs, above all others, for their quiet nature and loyalty.
Three weeks on, he is back at work, and busy. Rangiuru Farm is undergoing improvements with a huge, open-plan shed being readied as the venue for the cheese-making workshops the Dompers run, as well as serving the community for functions and games.