Website design By BotEap.comIn this post, I am going to talk about Christmas last year. For most people, this is a time to celebrate and reflect on all the good times we’ve shared throughout the year. But for us, Christmas 2010 was not like the previous ones.

Website design By BotEap.comIt was our first Christmas with the Asperger’s diagnosis. The diagnosis helped explain why Jacob didn’t like vacations so much. It was anxiety and lack of control. Jacob still has presents from last year that he hasn’t opened. The day started as usual, everyone in the living room, exchanging gifts. It was almost 10 in the morning when I decided to bring us a coffee. I’m surprised he even goes to Timmie’s now. When he was coming home, I noticed that the police patrol cars had established a kind of perimeter in my neighborhood. I thought what could be happening today? Then I saw the police patrol car by my house. I thought it was for a neighbor or something. It wasn’t until I saw my wife Shannon’s face. I felt sick. I knew that the tragedy was not happening to a neighbor, it was happening to my family.

Website design By BotEap.comI don’t think you know this, but I needed some time to relax after writing the last paragraph. I have not shared those details with anyone outside of my family.

Website design By BotEap.comI ran past everyone and asked my wife what was going on. She did her best to explain. There was a knock at the door and when she peeked out she saw a girl. She thought she was the daughter of our friend. she wasn’t she was a girl she had never seen before. It wasn’t until she opened the door that my wife Shannon saw the giant pit bull. But it was too late. The girl had found the pit bull roaming the streets and she wanted someone to call the Humane Society. She has a friend who lives next door and she mixed the 2 houses. 6 months earlier we had gotten a dog, to help be Jacob’s companion. Dogs are good with children with Asperger’s. So we have a little poodle named Max. It was small and white. He was very smart and very well trained, he was only 2 years old at Christmas.

Website design By BotEap.comAnother break.

Website design By BotEap.comMax went everywhere with Shannon. So of course he was at the door when she opened it. She had had the first gift from her with her new sock. “The new pit bull that was there.” My wife said. She had him before she could move. She was screaming for help, but it happened so fast that no one could do anything. The pitbull was so big compared to Max, weighing in at 7 pounds. When my wife and I had to go identify the dog, it was only then that I saw him. It was huge. So big that I didn’t know if he could have done what my wife did. The pit bull shook Max. Please don’t imagine it. When I walked in, there was blood, urine, and fecal matter everywhere in my hallway. You could tell by the movement of all the things that something had happened.

Website design By BotEap.comMy wife is my hero. Since there was a knock on the door at Christmas, everyone wanted to see who was there. Even Jacob. My wife had to protect Jacob from the dog, he was only six feet away. She jumped on the pit bull’s back and began strangling him with her own collar. She was wearing one of those pin choke collars that help teach a dog not to pull. My wife said that she was on her back and that she was very strong. But she was stronger. As she strangled the dog, she forced the giant pitbull out the door. The blood from the pit bull’s mouth, which came from Max, got on the bench we have in the hallway. She now she had to open the doors to get the pitbull out. She then pushed the pitbull away and ran off like nothing happened. But something happened. My poodle was mangled right in front of my son on Christmas day.

Website design By BotEap.comAnother rest, with a walk.

Website design By BotEap.comLet me say it again, my wife is a hero. What would have happened if Jacob had had one of Max’s toys so many times before? I can’t think about that right now. My dear wife risked her life to protect my son. That is a question most men would like to have answered. At first, I instead did the unthinkable. I blamed her. Did she not she looked at her? She didn’t she see the dog? It did not matter. I felt so bad afterwards. I’ve apologized a million times since then. I saw my poodle lying in the kitchen, still breathing red on his white fur. Not know what to do. Then I thought of Jacob. He had moved his room too much. He was in the corner of his room, in bed rocking and sobbing. He wouldn’t let me get close to him. So I went back down the stairs. Police, animal control and paramedics had been there asking questions. I also had some questions.

Website design By BotEap.comI’m going to take a break after each paragraph.

Website design By BotEap.comSo my wife and I took our dog to the emergency vet clinic. After a few trips and a couple of heart attacks, my dog ​​had to be euthanized. He would have put it down sooner, but before we left, Jacob asked me to save the dog from him. He didn’t want my son to lose his best friend on Christmas day. But he did. He dropped Max off at 6PM. And we left for more than $2500 dollars. I didn’t have to worry about that though. They found the dog after all and I would find out who owned it, right?

Website design By BotEap.comOver the next few days I received many calls from people offering dogs. I told El Espectador our story and we were on the CHCH news. “A Christmas tragedy” they called it. People had no trouble finding us and offering support, but we weren’t ready for a new dog. Then on December 27 we got another call, but this one was different. It was a lady named Nancy. Nancy was a poodle breeder and she was offering us a new poodle. She said that she saw us on the news and that she had to help. She asked how we were. Did we want another dog? How is your sound? Could not talk. She was crying, like on the news. My wife had to answer Nancy’s questions. We eventually agreed to get a poodle from Nancy.

Website design By BotEap.comThe new poodle we would receive would not be ready until Valentine’s Day. So while we waited, we went out looking for the owners of the pit bull. We went to the police. We did the Freedom of Info search. Both gave nothing. The city did not want to reveal the identity of the owner. “It was a huge invasion of someone’s privacy,” they said. Lo in town to protect the owner of the pit bull and leave us out in the cold. Hey, as long as the owner pays the fine to the city, what does the city care if I get our money back? We didn’t care though, we were getting a new dog.

Website design By BotEap.comValentine’s Day was upon us before you could blink. What a winter storm in the neck of the woods in Nancy. She was from Chatham, ON. Nancy and her husband John drove 2 hours in dark conditions to see us and Jacob. We had never put them in person, but we felt so close. They came to us in our time of need, an event that sometimes friends may not be there for you, but they were. And we didn’t even know what they were like.

Website design By BotEap.comThe Spec was there to cover the event. “Chico and the Boy” was the title. That’s what we call our little black lump. Ironically, I had a black poodle named Chico when I was a child. Jacob had light in his eyes again. He hadn’t heard him laugh or play like that in a long time. Even a year later as I sit and write this they are fighting by my side, Jacob has been laughing the whole time.

Website design By BotEap.comEven during this horrible time, the worst of my life. Something beautiful had happened. My relationship with my wife grew stronger, if that was possible. And we became lifelong friends with Nancy and John. All 3 are heroes to me. Now my life is better than ever. This Christmas we will be celebrating Chico’s first Christmas with us and reminiscing about the good times with our old dog Max. And I promise you this. We’re not going to open the front door.