Shortly after I moved into my house, I became friends with my neighbor. I didn't know at the time that he was insane.
He had a dog, named Forest, a boerboel who weighed about 140 lbs. So, not a small dog. Since my neighbor was pretty sedentary, and more likely to smoke pot than walk his dog, I started taking Forest out with me when I went on my walks. My favorite thing he did on one of our walks was either the time he unleashed a huge stream of drool on the cheeseburger of a girl who was petting him, or the time he decided to stop in the middle of crossing Broadway, a major street with 6 lanes, to drop a deuce.
After a while my neighbor started leaving Forest at my house when he went on travel. We would
get up early in the morning to go for walks, and then do the same when I got home from work. Then we would lay on the floor, because at the time I didn't own a couch, and watch movies. He would always try to climb into bed with me when I went to sleep, and I would never let him because I'm allergic to dogs. But it seemed like every morning I would wake up and find him laying next to me, drooling on my head and farting. Also, I would find dog snot all over the house from when he sneezed. I admit I spoiled him. After a while when my neighbor would come home he would have to physically pull Forest out of my house because Forest wanted to stay with me.
When ever Forest, my neighbor, and I went out together he would never put Forest on a leash. I always kept him on a leash though. One day, for fuck knows what reason, I decided to take him up to a park in Boulder to do a hike. By this time Forest was in great shape because we were walking about 6 miles a day in the city. My neighbor was in Arizona getting drunk and watching football.
The hike went great, except that Forest was getting a little freaked out because I had him on a leash and everyone else was letting their dogs run free, even though there were signs all over the park to keep them on a leash. Dogs get a thing called leash aggression when they are leashed and other dogs aren't. It's caused by them feeling vulnerable to the other dogs since they are on a leash and the other dogs aren't. I know that now.
As we were walking down this wide fire road, less than a quarter mile from my car, a family was approaching in the other direction. They had a german shepard, unleashed, and two kids, one 6 and the other 11. The 6 year old was obviously tired and throwing a temper tantrum. He threw himself on the ground and refused to get up. His dad tried to pick him up, and he did that thing kids do where they fold up their legs and refuse to stand up. The dad let go of the kid and he fell on the ground again, screaming and crying.
I was about 10 feet away from them, and had Forest pretty tight on the leash because of their dog. I was standing between Forest and the family because I was worried about their dog. As we walked by the mom said "Oh, look at the dog" and called Forest over to her. I guess she was trying to distract her kid from crying.
The next thing I knew I was on my knees and Forest was dragging me across the fire road. I tried to stop him but I couldn't. Boerboels are very strong, and can pull 1,500 lbs easily. Since I weigh about 120 lbs I didn't stand a chance.
He grabbed the kid by the shoulder and pinned him down on the ground. The parents were yelling but didn't do anything. As luck would have it, the day before I had been talking to Jen, the ex lesbian, about dog bites (her dog had just bitten someone at a party) and she told me that if you grab a dog's nose and twist it they'll let go. So I did that and Forest let go of the kid. The whole incident happened in less than 30 seconds.
The mom picked the kid up and at first said he didn't need to go to the hospital. Then a female ranger came out (the ranger hut was just across from where the incident happened) and they started yelling at me. Forest was hiding behind my legs and shaking because he was afraid. Then random people coming down the fire road started coming up and screaming at me for not controlling my dog, even though every fucking one of them had their dogs unleashed.
They ended up calling an ambulance to take the kid to St. Joseph's children's hospital. He required three stitches, and Forest had broken his collar bone. A male ranger came out as a mob descended on me and walked me back to my car.
As I drove home I called my neighbor. He sent me on a wild goose chase going to almost every vet in Denver trying to find Forest's shot records. It turns out he hadn't gotten a recent rabies vaccination. I was like great. I called the ranger every couple of hours to find out how the kid was, and to ask if I could call the parents. She told me she couldn't give me their contact information because they requested I not contact them.
I called the breeder from whom my neighbor had bought Forest. He was as surprised as I was when I told him what happened. He hypothesized that Forest was already on edge from leash aggression. He saw the little kid laying on the ground crying as some kind of threat. That's why he tried to pin the kid to the ground.
When my neighbor called later the ranger gave him the family's contact information and he called them. Because I didn't own Forest I could have washed my hands of the incident but I didn't. I went to every court meeting, and every meeting with the rangers. I paid to have Forest put to sleep and cremated. I agreed to split the cost of the law suit that soon showed up.
In court I was eviscerated. "Witnesses" who were no where near us when the incident happened said that the attack lasted at least 15 minutes. The mom said that Forest dragged her son 1/2 mile down the fire road. I think the parents were upset that they had done nothing to help their son so they were taking it out on me. They said the whole family needed therapy to get over the incident. I couldn't help but think that if a fucking dog bite sent them into such a tail spin they could never survive the real world. The mom also said I never called the family to see how the kid was doing, an utter and outright lie. It was also the worst lie for me because everything else she had said to that point, I could chalk up to adrenaline and mis-remembering things. But to say I didn't care about her kid? I wanted to kick her in the fucking cunt for that.
The male ranger spoke on my behalf and said that I was the most cooperative person they had ever dealt with. He said that I could have left the scene (which is true) but I didn't. And I found out, doing research, that the park where the attack happened has one of the largest number of dog biting incidents in the entire country. Probably because none of the fucks who live in Boulder leash their dogs.
To which I would also add, of all the places I've lived, Colorado has the worst behaved dogs and dog owners. In the past year, I've been to three parties (and I don't go to many parties anymore) where a dog bit someone.
It took two years, but the law suit was settled. My neighbor not only doesn't speak to me - he does shit things. He used to have his friends call my land line at all hours of the night and say things to me like they were going to come over to my house and rape me. He tried to have my now ex-boyfriend's truck towed, saying it was an abandoned vehicle. He did that three times in one week. He pulled my hummingbird feeder off a branch of his tree that hangs over my yard, broke it to pieces, and threw it on my patio. He smashed the hood of housepest1.0's car and ripped the Honda logo off of it. Let all the air out of the tires of my car when I had parked it in front of my house. Among other things...
I still have nightmares about Forest biting the kid. For months after I played the incident over and over in my mind, wondering what I could have done to prevent it. And I remember driving Forest home after. He was sitting in the back seat and he put his head on my shoulder and refused to move it even if I tried to shove him back. When we got home he wouldn't leave my side and would run after me if I broke contact with him.
I had to drive him to a shelter the day after he bit the kid, where they quarantined him to make sure he didn't have rabies. When we were driving there I think he knew. He put his head and front paws in my lap the whole ride there, which he had never done before when we were driving around.
The night before he was put to sleep I went over to my neighbor's house to hang out with Forest one last time. He crawled into my lap (as much as he would fit into my lap, anyway) and stayed there until I left. I finally left because I couldn't stop crying. It wasn't just because Forest was going to get put to sleep. It was the whole shit situation.
Oddly enough, the kid that got bitten was also named Frankie.
I was advised by my insurance company, who settled the lawsuit, not to get a dog. I have a cactus instead. His name is Gunter. He hasn't bitten anyone. Yet.
He had a dog, named Forest, a boerboel who weighed about 140 lbs. So, not a small dog. Since my neighbor was pretty sedentary, and more likely to smoke pot than walk his dog, I started taking Forest out with me when I went on my walks. My favorite thing he did on one of our walks was either the time he unleashed a huge stream of drool on the cheeseburger of a girl who was petting him, or the time he decided to stop in the middle of crossing Broadway, a major street with 6 lanes, to drop a deuce.After a while my neighbor started leaving Forest at my house when he went on travel. We would
get up early in the morning to go for walks, and then do the same when I got home from work. Then we would lay on the floor, because at the time I didn't own a couch, and watch movies. He would always try to climb into bed with me when I went to sleep, and I would never let him because I'm allergic to dogs. But it seemed like every morning I would wake up and find him laying next to me, drooling on my head and farting. Also, I would find dog snot all over the house from when he sneezed. I admit I spoiled him. After a while when my neighbor would come home he would have to physically pull Forest out of my house because Forest wanted to stay with me.When ever Forest, my neighbor, and I went out together he would never put Forest on a leash. I always kept him on a leash though. One day, for fuck knows what reason, I decided to take him up to a park in Boulder to do a hike. By this time Forest was in great shape because we were walking about 6 miles a day in the city. My neighbor was in Arizona getting drunk and watching football.
The hike went great, except that Forest was getting a little freaked out because I had him on a leash and everyone else was letting their dogs run free, even though there were signs all over the park to keep them on a leash. Dogs get a thing called leash aggression when they are leashed and other dogs aren't. It's caused by them feeling vulnerable to the other dogs since they are on a leash and the other dogs aren't. I know that now.
As we were walking down this wide fire road, less than a quarter mile from my car, a family was approaching in the other direction. They had a german shepard, unleashed, and two kids, one 6 and the other 11. The 6 year old was obviously tired and throwing a temper tantrum. He threw himself on the ground and refused to get up. His dad tried to pick him up, and he did that thing kids do where they fold up their legs and refuse to stand up. The dad let go of the kid and he fell on the ground again, screaming and crying.
I was about 10 feet away from them, and had Forest pretty tight on the leash because of their dog. I was standing between Forest and the family because I was worried about their dog. As we walked by the mom said "Oh, look at the dog" and called Forest over to her. I guess she was trying to distract her kid from crying.
The next thing I knew I was on my knees and Forest was dragging me across the fire road. I tried to stop him but I couldn't. Boerboels are very strong, and can pull 1,500 lbs easily. Since I weigh about 120 lbs I didn't stand a chance.
He grabbed the kid by the shoulder and pinned him down on the ground. The parents were yelling but didn't do anything. As luck would have it, the day before I had been talking to Jen, the ex lesbian, about dog bites (her dog had just bitten someone at a party) and she told me that if you grab a dog's nose and twist it they'll let go. So I did that and Forest let go of the kid. The whole incident happened in less than 30 seconds.
The mom picked the kid up and at first said he didn't need to go to the hospital. Then a female ranger came out (the ranger hut was just across from where the incident happened) and they started yelling at me. Forest was hiding behind my legs and shaking because he was afraid. Then random people coming down the fire road started coming up and screaming at me for not controlling my dog, even though every fucking one of them had their dogs unleashed.
They ended up calling an ambulance to take the kid to St. Joseph's children's hospital. He required three stitches, and Forest had broken his collar bone. A male ranger came out as a mob descended on me and walked me back to my car.
As I drove home I called my neighbor. He sent me on a wild goose chase going to almost every vet in Denver trying to find Forest's shot records. It turns out he hadn't gotten a recent rabies vaccination. I was like great. I called the ranger every couple of hours to find out how the kid was, and to ask if I could call the parents. She told me she couldn't give me their contact information because they requested I not contact them.
I called the breeder from whom my neighbor had bought Forest. He was as surprised as I was when I told him what happened. He hypothesized that Forest was already on edge from leash aggression. He saw the little kid laying on the ground crying as some kind of threat. That's why he tried to pin the kid to the ground.
When my neighbor called later the ranger gave him the family's contact information and he called them. Because I didn't own Forest I could have washed my hands of the incident but I didn't. I went to every court meeting, and every meeting with the rangers. I paid to have Forest put to sleep and cremated. I agreed to split the cost of the law suit that soon showed up.
In court I was eviscerated. "Witnesses" who were no where near us when the incident happened said that the attack lasted at least 15 minutes. The mom said that Forest dragged her son 1/2 mile down the fire road. I think the parents were upset that they had done nothing to help their son so they were taking it out on me. They said the whole family needed therapy to get over the incident. I couldn't help but think that if a fucking dog bite sent them into such a tail spin they could never survive the real world. The mom also said I never called the family to see how the kid was doing, an utter and outright lie. It was also the worst lie for me because everything else she had said to that point, I could chalk up to adrenaline and mis-remembering things. But to say I didn't care about her kid? I wanted to kick her in the fucking cunt for that.
The male ranger spoke on my behalf and said that I was the most cooperative person they had ever dealt with. He said that I could have left the scene (which is true) but I didn't. And I found out, doing research, that the park where the attack happened has one of the largest number of dog biting incidents in the entire country. Probably because none of the fucks who live in Boulder leash their dogs.
To which I would also add, of all the places I've lived, Colorado has the worst behaved dogs and dog owners. In the past year, I've been to three parties (and I don't go to many parties anymore) where a dog bit someone.
It took two years, but the law suit was settled. My neighbor not only doesn't speak to me - he does shit things. He used to have his friends call my land line at all hours of the night and say things to me like they were going to come over to my house and rape me. He tried to have my now ex-boyfriend's truck towed, saying it was an abandoned vehicle. He did that three times in one week. He pulled my hummingbird feeder off a branch of his tree that hangs over my yard, broke it to pieces, and threw it on my patio. He smashed the hood of housepest1.0's car and ripped the Honda logo off of it. Let all the air out of the tires of my car when I had parked it in front of my house. Among other things...
I still have nightmares about Forest biting the kid. For months after I played the incident over and over in my mind, wondering what I could have done to prevent it. And I remember driving Forest home after. He was sitting in the back seat and he put his head on my shoulder and refused to move it even if I tried to shove him back. When we got home he wouldn't leave my side and would run after me if I broke contact with him.
I had to drive him to a shelter the day after he bit the kid, where they quarantined him to make sure he didn't have rabies. When we were driving there I think he knew. He put his head and front paws in my lap the whole ride there, which he had never done before when we were driving around.
The night before he was put to sleep I went over to my neighbor's house to hang out with Forest one last time. He crawled into my lap (as much as he would fit into my lap, anyway) and stayed there until I left. I finally left because I couldn't stop crying. It wasn't just because Forest was going to get put to sleep. It was the whole shit situation.
Oddly enough, the kid that got bitten was also named Frankie.
I was advised by my insurance company, who settled the lawsuit, not to get a dog. I have a cactus instead. His name is Gunter. He hasn't bitten anyone. Yet.
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