Just as a cougar lunged toward Austin Forman, his guardian Angel stepped in to save the day.
The 11-year-old was collecting firewood at his family's home in Boston Bar -- 215 km northeast of Vancouver -- about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when his white golden retriever, Angel, thwarted a cougar attack on the youngster.
"I took a break about 10 feet (3 metres) away from the door because the wood was heavy and that's when I saw my dog come charging at me," Austin said.
"She cleared my lawn mower, which was amazing, and when she was in the air, the cougar jumped too and grabbed her.
"I didn't even know it was there."
With the 18-month-old dog and cougar locked in a bloody battle, Austin ran into the house screaming for help.
"You could hear her whimpering and whining, something you don't ever want to hear again from a dog," he said.
His mom, Sherry, called police, who arrived within minutes and shot the cougar, which had dragged Angel under a set of stairs.
"He had to do it from the top of the stairs because he couldn't get right at the cat," Austin's dad, Jay, said.
"The cougar was wrapped through with the dog, they were kind of intertwined.
"He was able to look over and shoot down on the cougar."
At first the family thought the cougar had killed Angel, but minutes later, the pup sat up.
"We think she's going to survive," Jay said.
"She's got puncture wounds on the top of her head and her lip and her snout and some on her neck and one on her inner thigh."
Angel had been acting a little strange earlier that afternoon and Austin now thinks that was an attempt to warn them of the wildcat's presence.
"I think she knew something was gonna go down because she knew to protect me and go with me the whole time," Austin said.
Thought to be a juvenile, the cougar's paws "were bigger than my hands," Jay said. "It probably stood about two feet (60 cm) high."
A resident of the tiny B.C. community since 1976, Jay said he has never seen a cougar this close to houses before.
"There's bobcats and stuff that come around but I've never seen a cougar down this low."
Angel is now recovering with a family friend who raises dogs and Austin is looking forward to repaying her.
"I'm going to buy her a T-bone," the boy said.
That dog is a badass. My friends dog got into a fight with a coyote a few years back. It was up by the back porch.
