Dobermann Barney was looking after the rare Steiff bear, named Mabel, which had been loaned for an exhibition at Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, Somerset.
The dog ripped the head off the bear and attacked scores of other teddies.
Barney’s owner could only suggest that the bear had a rogue scent on it – or that Barney had become jealous of it.
The bear, made in Germany in 1909, was bought at auction in Memphis, Tennessee, by Somerset aristocrat Sir Benjamin Slade.