Merlin Hallock's 12-year-old daughter was walking down the road in Victor Lake, a rural area about six kilometres east of Grande Cache to catch her school bus on Jan. 31. She was flanked by her two dogs, Ruby and Jag, who walk her to the stop every day.

Hallock saw that her daughter caught the bus and her dogs were on their way back home.

But then, she heard something.

"It sounded awful," she told CBC News. "It sounded like the dog was being strangled."

She rushed out with her coat but struggled to see what was happening — it was 7:30 a.m., and still dark. She turned an outside light on to find a cougar on top of Jag, a black Labrador retriever.

She quickly called her brother, Curtis Hallock. Curtis is well-versed in wildlife — he was a guide on the Canadian reality TV show Mantracker.

Curtis Hallock was next door when he ran over and shot the cougar while it was on top of Jag. (Vimeo)

Curtis rushed over from his house next door and shot the cougar. The cougar, wounded, fled. Jag was on the ground, motionless. "He was stiff. He wasn't moving," Merlin Hallock said. "I thought he was dead."

They ran up to Jag and saw a deep gash on the side of his face. But he was alive.

'It probably would have jumped her'

Hallock was happy her dog was alive, but she was especially thankful for her dogs being by her daughter's side in the first place.

She said she figures the cougar was in the area while her daughter was walking to the bus.

"I honestly think that if the dogs weren't there, it probably would have jumped her," she said. "And I probably would have seen it."

Hallock said she's lived in the area for decades and that she and her family are well-versed in dealing with animals. "We're animal-wise, but we don't freak out about them," she said.

"We've never had problems with [wild] animals."

This attack is the latest in a recent uptick in cougar attacks. In December, a Red Deer man punched a cougar after it began attacking his dog.

This cougar was wounded, and Hallock's brother Curtis tracked it once it was light out. He found it, put it down, and contacted Fish and Wildlife. The cougar was thin and desperate, according to Curtis's accounts.

As for Jag, he has since been taken to an animal hospital, where vets determined he would need surgery and care that could cost anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000. Hallock didn't have that kind of money — but luckily her friends stepped up.

'I was in awe'

Hallock adopted Jag from Gail Dupuis, a family friend who couldn't keep him anymore. When Dupuis found out about Jag's condition, she offered to pay the thousands of dollars it took for the care.

She and her coworkers also started a GoFundMe for Jag's surgeries, which had raised more than $1,500 at the time of publication.

When Hallock found out about the generosity of her friends and strangers, she was shocked. "I was crying," she said. "I was in awe. It's amazing how many people want to help him."

Now, Hallock is back at home with her kids and her other dog, Ruby, while Jag is at an animal hospital in Edmonton. She said things could have been a lot worse, and she's hopeful Jag will be back home in about a month.

"It sure woke us up," she said. "I didn't expect it.

"I'm just happy he's alive."