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I'm a veterinarian, so I have to put in my 2 cents worth over the dog bite issue.  First, I feel sorry for the little girl who was bitten.  I think Dr. Phil was right on in his advice to keep the child and the dog seperated, and I am glad he addressed teaching the child how to behave around animals.  However, I do not think he stressed the latter issue fully enough.  He also did not offer advice on behavioral modification for the dog (other than physically seperating it from the child)  

Before I get nasty replies, I am NOT blaming the mother.  She obviously loves her child and wants to protect her.  I just think the husband was trying to explain that the dog was startled when the child got close to his face, and reacted instinctually.  His point was that if dogs and children are going to co-exist peacefully, there need to be boundaries for both.  For example, the dog needs to be taught to not jump on the child, or take toys from the child, and the child needs to learn not to get in the dog's face, or disturb him while sleeping or eating.  If the child is going to be running around on the floor, the dog shold be outside, or in a different room until the child is old enough to undersand how to interact with a pet.  I strongly recommend that this family consult a veterinary behaviorist to help address this issue.  There is additional training needed for the dog and all family members to reduce the chance of this happening agian.  Simply trying to set it up so the child and dog never have contact with one another is unrealistic, and may lead to the dog being isolated from the family, which will tend to make behavioral problems worse.  The behaviorist is better suited than Dr. Phil to assess the dog's behavior and determine the threat level it may pose to the child in the future.  Dr. Phil cannot determine this from just hearing about the incident.  If, after the consultation, the veterinary behaviorist determines the dog is highly likely to bite again,  the owners should consider trying to place the dog in a household without young children (dalmation rescue groups are a good resource for this).  Please, please Dr. Phil, do not forget to advise  people with pet issues to seek professional veterinary advice.  

Doglover 82, 

I was reading all the responses to the dog bite issue, and your mention of your dog showing teeth to your daugher concerns me greatly.   You say you are not concerned that Baby will bite your daughter, but you should be!  If your daughter pesters her to the point of growling and showing teeth, it could easily escalate to a bite.  Based on the breeds, I assume your dog is large, so a bite could be serious or even deadly.  I am a firm believer that most dog bites to children are due to situations where the dog is frightened or frustrated by the childs behavior.   Your daughter is too young to understand that Baby needs her space, so it is up to you to be sure she is not put in a situation where she can be bitten.  Again, it sounds like a bite is highly likely to happen.  Please consult a veterinary behaviorist or trainer for further advise specific to your situation.  In the meatime, do not allow you young daughter to be in the floor at the dog's level.  Keep the two separated.  Good luck, and hope your 2-legged and 4-legged kids can grow up together with only positive experiences.  

Linda,

Dr Phil is right!  Feeding only human food can be dangerous for Sasha.  She's a cute, smart little dog (not human), and I think it's great that you love her so much.  I have 2 dogs myself, and I call myself their 'mommy' and talk to them every day.   However, they are dogs, and they eat mostly dog food, with occasional healthy human foods as a treat.   If you are feeding only human food,  unless the diet is carefully balanced, she most likely is not getting the proper amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fat and vitamins and minerals.   Only a veterinary nutritionist can properly balance a human food -only diet for pets.  Feeding a little bit of whatever you happen to be eating is not sufficient.  

 I could not help but notice that Sasha looks overweight.   This is definately harmful to her, and some studies show that being overweight can take 2 years off their life expectancy.  I cannot give you advice about her diet since she is not my patient, but please talk to your vet about her diet.   There are many varieties of quality dog food.  Dogs WILL eat dog food if you don't give in and feed human food every time they turn their nose up at dog food.    Again, you will need to talk to your vet about how long it is safe for her to go without eating while you remove the human food and leave her no choice but to eat the dog food.   This is a lot like feeding kids that only want to eat ice cream or candy.  Take away the ice cream and offer then whatever you want them to eat.  They may skip a few meals, but will eat what you are offering when they realize no ice cream and candy is coming!

Paul, I hope you are reading this, and that you take all these messages to heart.  My dad has smoked sevearal packs a day as far back as I can remember.  I knew from a young age that this could kill him, and used to beg him to stop.  To this day, he still smokes 1-2 packs a day, despite having COPD.  This disease, in case you don't know, is incurable, and terminal.   He is on disability, becaue he can no longer work due to his respiratory problems.   As little as 6 months ago, he was able to walk around the block with me and my dogs, the only physical activity he could do.  He looked forward to an evening walk with the 'grand-dogs' several times a week.  Now, he cannot even do that.  He can't bend down to tie his shoes, because he can't cathch his breath.  He suffers from sleep apnea, and has to sleep every night with oxygen.   He tries so hard to help me out around the house, because he wants to feel needed.  The last time he tried to do any physical work was raking leaves.  I came home, and there was a pile of leaves about the size of a bag of ice by the road.   That was all he was able to do before running out of breath.   He suffers from chest pains due to chronic coughing, and coughs so much that he sometimes passes out.     This is painful to watch, and yet I get angry at him too, since he caused the condition by smoking.  Paul if you think for 1 minute that he's living life and enjoying his 56 years, you are WRONG.   My dad is clinically depressed, at times suicidal, feels useless, panics during severe coughing episodes because he CANNOT breathe, and he is in physical pain.   Yes, he still feels good, or high, or whatever feeling he gets from a cigarette, but that is outweighed by the problems I just mentioned.    He can look forward to a slow death from heart failure secondary to COPD, so rest assured he will not feel like,  "well, at least I had 60 good years."   The last few years are no picnic.

You owe it to your children to stop smoking.   I was lucky enough that my dad was in decent health while I was still young.  But even as an adult, I would still like to have him around as long as possible.   My sister has a young daughter (my dad's only grandchild).  She's 6 now.  If he is lucky, he may live to see her get through elementary school, but I doubt it.  He certainly will never see her graduate from high school or college, or get married.  This will leave her with only 1 grandparent, which is terribly unfair.  I grew up with 3, and they were such an important part of my life.  Paul, please, please do not allow your children to watch you suffer like my dad has.  DO you really want then to see you pass out from coughing, sleep with oxygen, not be able to take a walk in the park, or die of a heart attack in front of them?   Take the help Dr. Phil is offering, if not for yourself, then for your children.