Man shot in buttocks by own dog

An American man who was duck hunting on the Great Salt Lake near Brigham City was shot by his dog in the buttocks.

The 46-year-old man from Brigham City and his friend went duck hunting on Sunday about 8:30 a.m. on the north end of the Great Salt Lake near the bird refuge, about 10 miles west of Brigham City when the incident occurred.

According to Box Elder County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Kevin Potter, the two had their canoe-like boat in a shallow marsh area when the man got out of the boat to either set up or collect decoys, and laid his 12-gauge shotgun across the bow of the boat.

After the man got out of the boat, the dog inside the vessel jumped up on the bow and stepped on the gun, which fired and shot the man in the buttocks.

Medical crews later removed 27 pellets of birdshot.

"(The dog) did something to make the gun discharge," the Deseret News quoted Potter as saying.

"I don't know if the safety device was on. It's not impossible the dog could have taken it off safety," he said.

The men called 911 and walked to the main road to wait for emergency crew.

Potter also said that the fact the man was wearing waders most likely helped prevent a more serious injury.

Potter said that the gun was fired from approximately 10 feet away.