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Shocked neighbours feared a massive dog had eaten the postman before realising the body part hanging out of its mouth was a Halloween prop.

The 16-stone dog worried residents when it was spotted racing around with a bloody "severed arm" – before realising it was a grisly toy.

Owner Debra Ann Ridge heard her five-year-old English Mastiff Tatanka careering around the garden and rushed out to find the excited pooch with a gruesome severed "body part" in his mouth.

READ MORE: 'Incredibly lucky' dog survives after being hurled from lorry driving at 50mph

Stay-at-home mum Debra Ann claims they were given a "look" by neighbours before realising the mischievous dog had raided her Halloween collection and swiped a bloody forearm.

The 57-year-old says locals now joke that Tatanka has hunted down the postman or quip he had been "digging in the yard again" – having munched his way through eight of the life-like limbs.

In hilarious images, Tatanka can be seen bouncing around the lawn with the grisly accessory flailing through the air – transforming his owner's leafy suburban street into something from a horror movie.

Debra Ann, from Des Moines in Iowa, US, said: "It is very funny, we laughed very hard.

"Tatanka is a 224lb English Mastiff so his size alone makes people take a second look but a body part in his mouth really makes people stop and look."

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She added: "He prances around with the arm in the yard and the neighbours do give us quite the look until they realise it is a Halloween prop and not the real thing.

"They always make comments like 'you certainly have a helping hand', 'has Tatanka been digging in the yard again?' and 'don’t need security cameras with Tatanka'.

"They make jokes like 'I see he’s been digging in the backyard again' or 'is that the mailman?'

"He runs around carrying it and throwing it up in the air."

Despite enjoying cuddles on the sofa with his family, Debra claims Tatanka's tough exterior makes people cross the street to avoid him – though she jokes his love of the "infamous arm" doesn't help his cause.

Debra Ann said: "I was preparing for Halloween and every year I bring out the 'infamous arm', my boy becomes so excited and grabs it and runs off with it.

"I bought the arm off eBay. It was about $7 and we've had about seven or eight over the years.

"He does this every year and then I have to purchase another, they become his favourite toy.

"He loves the arm so much that I decide to let him keep it and just buy others.

"He's a joker. He jokes around the most [out of three dogs] and he's very playful."

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• Dogs
• Halloween
• eBay
• United States

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