Dog saves woman from sleazy boss's sexual harassment

The Cane Corso dog, which weighed around 43kg, came to the woman's aid. Photo / 123rf

A young woman who was repeatedly sexually harassed by her older male boss has praised the man's dog for saving her from the unacceptable situation.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Bored Panda she was hired by an "older gentleman" who needed a personal assistant at home.

She told the publication she had originally met the man through her father, and that initially, everything went smoothly — before "red flags" started to appear.

"My first impression of him was a 'Man in Power,' someone who gets his way, doesn't take bullsh*t from anyone, and is brutally honest," she said.

"When I was there with my dad, my boss was completely respectful, never bothered us as we worked, generally no red flags at all."

She went on to reveal that one of her main jobs was to look after the man's "very sweet" dog — a 43kg Cane Corso which acted like a "big mushy baby" around her after they bonded.

The large Italian breed, also known as the Italian Mastiff, is prized for making great companions as well as guard dogs.

But the woman said she started to feel uncomfortable several days into her new role, news.com.au reported.

"Now my boss is a man who always gives hugs to ANYONE he greets. Male, female, child. So I didn't think anything weird of it until I started to feel his hand brushing against my thighs, my hips, my lower back …" she said.

"Then it got to the point where he wouldn't let me go from a hug and would hold me in place and despite my protest, he combated it with, 'don't worry, I know you enjoy it.' He had liked to make comments on my body and say how he enjoyed viewing me."

The woman said she tried to "laugh it off and walk away" to avoid confrontation — until on one occasion, she "panicked" when the man started touching her inappropriately and trying to tickle her.

"I panicked and called the dog's name along with, 'help me' or 'protect me' to distract him for a little longer before he touched me again," she revealed.

"To my surprise, she got up and stood guard growling and barking at him. He was surprised but also laughing and told me to make her stand down and reward her by saying 'good girl.' My boss then walked away and didn't touch me for the rest of the time I was there."

The woman said she hadn't yet quit her job as she was living "pay cheque to pay cheque" and couldn't yet afford to.

But she said having the dog around made her feel safer.

"I'm not an expert on dog behaviour and I don't understand why a dog would disobey its master over someone it barely knows," she said.

"But from what I have gathered, dogs have a tendency to protect those in distress so she probably detected something was wrong and that I was panicking."