Kacey Musgraves’ dog saves her from stepping barefoot on rattlesnake

Kacey Musgraves would have been in big trouble if not for her trusty dog, Pepper.

The singer-songwriter revealed in a series of Instagram Story posts that her Australian cattle dog “honestly saved me” from stepping on a rattlesnake while barefoot on a recent walk with two friends, though the poor pup suffered a snakebite in the process.

“Copperhead: 1, Pepper: 0,” Musgraves joked, correcting her identification to that of a timber rattlesnake in a follow-up post.

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“Got her to the vet quick” for a dose of antivenom, Musgraves wrote over a series of photos and videos depicting Pepper getting an IV. “The bite made her lethargic. Those who have Blue Heelers know they ain’t ever this calm.”

A crop of stories posted Monday confirmed that Pepper was “home and sleeping a lot / on paid meds and getting lots of love.”

The “Slow Burn” singer proceeded to share a series of photos depicting the dog snuggling in bed with a clear red mark on her snout where the rattlesnake struck. “This is wild but the vet was showing me how the inside of her mouth and all down her neck is so bruised from that damn snakebite,” Musgraves wrote over a a photo of Pepper’s lip being pulled back to reveal a gnarly segment of discolored skin.

Musgraves added, “Thank god for good dogs.”

The musician released her critically acclaimed sixth studio album, Deeper Well, earlier this year. Entertainment Weekly called it “a return to Golden Hour form,” in reference to her beloved 2018 album.

Musgaves was a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in March, alongside host Sydney Sweeney. And Prime Video recently released her Deeper Well World Tour concert film, shot at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle in September with guests Father John Misty and Nickel Creek.