Martha Stewart in bust-up with dog

She explained how she 'leaned down to whisper goodbye to a dozing Francesca' at her Westchester County, NY, home on Tuesday night.

'I must have startled her because she bolted upright with such force that she hit me in the face like a boxing glove hitting an opponent's face,' she said.

She added: 'I was entirely startled and my neck snapped back. I felt a bit of whiplash as blood gushed forth from my split lip. Frannie was as upset as I was and cowered in her bed.'

She then went to an emergency room at a hospital near her home to get treated.

'I'll be alright facially. I'm not rushing to get a facelift any time soon!' she wrote later.