The dogs' owners appealed to the public to help with sky-rocketing vet bills after trio were stuck full of quills in the encounter.

One of the dogs, Mahalo, had particularly life-threatening injuries with quills piercing her heart and lungs.

A crowdfunding page set up eight days ago on GoFundMe to help pay the dogs' vet bills had raised $C12,900 ($13,710) by Thursday morning.

The "brawl" between the porcupine and dogs took place last month in the small town of Craven in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

Mahalo was instantly covered in quills, while another of the dogs, named Nestah, also picked up plenty.

The third dog, Solijah, took less of a hit, with a goatee worth of quills on the chin.

Owner Dennis Mazur told CBC it was a miracle Mahalo was still alive.

"Quills are a tricky thing," he said. "They go in and they're just sort of barbed and they migrate and travel and that's the fear right now. Mahalo had quills that migrated up into her lungs and into her heart."

Mazur said he was watching Mahalo closely.

"As long as these are the last of the quills in here, we should be on the road to recovery now."

Mike Gerrand, who set up the crowdfunding page, said vet bills had reached C$8000 (NZ$9200) and continued to climb.

Mazur, a youth worker, was staying home to care for the dogs.

"These dogs are the love of my dear friend Dennis's life they travel everywhere with him and are loved by the special needs clients Dennis works with," Gerrand said on the page.

Stuff