Fairfield teen's story of fighting off a Mt. Lion with a Samarai sword to protect his dog may have been embelished just a tad. The Department of Fish and Game says the dog was attacked -- but by a racoon, not a mountain lion.

Department personnel checked paw prints and feces to come to their conclusion.

Marquel Dawson, 19, was playing fetch with his dog Stunna earlier this week in their wide-open backyard when the two came face to face with a big creature that Dawson believed was a mountain lion. The dog immediately moved to protect his master.

"He turns and looks at the bush, and turned back and looked at me, he takes off running into the bush and I hear tussling around," Marquel said.

Marquel said he ran 150 yards back to his house and grabbed the only think he could think of: His samurai sword.

"By the time I got down there it was on top of him, so I swung the sword and hit him once and I threw my arms up and made a loud noise," he said.

The startled animal took off, but Stunna was unable to move. Marquel rushed the dog to the veterinarian, who is keeping him overnight to treat him for lacerations to the side of his face and the top of his head.

Marquel says he would make the same choice to help his dog again.

"I've had that dog since he's a puppy and he feels like family," he said.