Topic : 03/30 Is This Normal?

In comparison, this guy Steve gets an "F" as a dad. How will that little girl feel when she sees that episode of Dr. Phil sometime in the future, hears him say "yeah, she's my daughter, but those dogs are my kids too..." the very animal whose "natural instinct" caused her to have trauma to her face, caused her to endure follow-up surgeries to restore her face, caused emotional and mental anguish and fear? If I were her, I'd feel like my dad loved the dog more than me, or that he considered the dog my equal. What a terrible message to send to a child!!!  

If that is the message the child gets it would not be because of the  dog bite . My daughter was attacked by our dog. I raised her to love all animals and apologized for my mistake as a parent. in letting it happen. It never happened again and she is a dog handler and rescuer today at 17 years old and excepts her scars.  

If you take your eyes off of your child and they fall down and require stitches and have a scar will they never forgive your neglectful mistake? I think it all depends on how you raise them to see the world and what you teach them about forgiveness.  

How do you expect abused and abandoned dogs not to snap sometimes. So you only save the nice ones is that it? Wow you sure have alot of passion. Done! 

Watching the show today brought back memories of when I was 5 and bit by a neighbor's dog.  I did not do anything to the dog, I was sitting there and was bit in the eye.  It tore out the tear duct and did a lot of facial damage.  I have had 9 plus reconstructive eye surgeries and still probably need a couple more in the future to keep the lower lid from falling over.  I have had a fear of dogs for a long time.  I currently have dogs as pets.  We have a dog that is a mix bred and it is kind of skittish.  When people come over and want to go out back, if the dog acts at all skittish, I immediately put the dog in the dog yard (actually all three dogs) and then bring the people on out back.  She is a lot better now.  We had her since a pup.  It is in her bred to be this way and she is protective as well.  We have a full blood border collie and a mix beattle.  The other dog is a rotweiler/shepherd mix.  What I want to tell the parents is this messed me up for a long time.  I was disfigured for many years and the children at school were very mean and cruel.  Surgeries were not always scheduled when I was out of school, so some teachers were not understanding as to the absences.  I was even behind in some things at school because of this.  I can be insecure about myself as a consequence of the teasing I received as a child.  This child is going to have a lifetime (possibly) of fear and teasing because of the disfigurement.  I hope she gets the help she needs and these parents not power play one another about the dog.  What needs to be first is the little girl.  This happend to me in 1966 and it was right before Christmas as well.  Also, insurance didn't cover ANY of this stuff.  My parents had to pay for everything.  We tried to sue the neighbors home owners insurance, but my sister and I could not handle the stress of going to court, so my parents decided in our best interest to not go to court and to settle for a nominal amount of $1000 which I received at the age of 18.  I am cautious around dogs - even my own. Thanks for listening.