BOSTON -- Zeke the dog did what any dog would do when a deer stepped onto his turf last Saturday night: he barked. To his family's horror, however, the deer did not behave so predictably.

The doe attacked Zeke, an 85-pound chocolate Labrador, at about 7:15 p.m. in Westwood, leaving him with a "baseball-sized abrasion" and an 8- to 10-inch laceration, his owner Anne Georges said. She said she and her husband, who ran outside at Zeke's yelps, were surprised by the deer's behavior.

"[The deer] sort of looked over his shoulder at him and snorted," Georges said, calling the noise "aggressive."

They took their pet to an Angell Animal Medical Center for stitches and a rabies booster shot.

The emergency staff rarely sees deer aggression, but the presence of two fawns and Zeke's tendency to chase deer probably provoked the attack, MSPCA-Angell spokesman Bryan Adams said.

"The normal thing to suspect when you hear of a deer attack -- because they are pretty skittish and flighty -- is there might be something wrong with it," Adams said. "With the fawn nearby, that does offer up an explanation as to why it would stand its ground."

Adams said animals tend to be very protective of their young, and people should keep their families – pets included – away from them for that very reason.

Attacks by raccoons are much more common, he said, but once any attack takes place, people should take their pets to veterinarians for examinations and booster shots.

Once an animal is exposed to rabies, it has about two weeks before the virus jumps from nerve cell to nerve cell and enters the brain, at which point an animal becomes rabid, said Michael Cahill, the Massachusetts Division of Animal Health director. When a dog or cat shows signs of being rabid – three to four days after the virus has reached its brain -- it has two to three more days before it dies if left untreated.

"Part of our mission is to insure that people abide by and comply with rabies vaccination laws for pets -- particularly dogs and cats," he said.

Cahill said it is important to note the difference between exposure and rabidity, and that animals need to be vaccinated at least one month prior to exposure because there are no post-exposure shots available for pets without vaccinations.

Zeke, who was up to date on his shots, got a booster and is doing well at home, Georges said.

"He seems to be doing great," Adams said. "He had his recheck, and he's currently at home."