According to “The Stephen King Ultimate Companion: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life and Influences” by Bev Vincent, “Cujo” literally leapt into King’s life when a 200-pound St. Bernard attacked the author. The encounter with King occurred in 1977, when he took his motorcycle into a garage for repairs. He had come in hoping for a trouble-free repair of his vehicle; he had not expected an encounter with a ferocious furball named Bowser.
According to Vincent, King asked the mechanic if Bowser was a friendly dog. After hearing that Bowser wasn’t the type to bite, King went to pet the seemingly docile beast. Within seconds, Bowser attacked the author.
The mechanic quickly whacked Bowser with his socket wrench, thus sparing King a hospital visit and the joy of a tetanus shot or worse. You’d think that Bowser’s owner would be incredibly contrite (especially since King was a close-to-paying customer), but after calming his dog the mechanic responded, “Bowser doesn’t usually do that. He mustn’t have liked your face.” .” (Seen above. You can decide for yourself whether Bowser had a legitimate complaint.)
This incident seared itself into King’s memory and, four years later, inspired what is currently (according to GoodReads and Amazon) the writer’s eighth most popular novel. I wouldn’t say that “Cujo” did exactly for big dogs what Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” did for great white sharks (perhaps because, according to King, the film adaptation is not a particularly effective adaptation), but that St. Bernard is never far from my thoughts when I think about petting a dog that could turn me into a meal.
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