A woman may never have feeling in her face again after a dog mauled her nose on the street.
Sam Lodge, 53, loves dogs and often stops to say hello to them. So she didn’t think twice about going up to a Whippet-like cross near her home in Grimsby.She asked the dog’s owner if her pet was friendly and bent down to stroke it when she said yes.
‘It was at that point the dog went for me, nothing like this has ever happened to me before,’ she told Grimsby Live.‘At first, I just thought the dog had headbutted me and it wasn’t until I got home and washed my face that I realised exactly what had happened. It came as quite a shock.’
Be Diligent about Vet Visits. “Don’t wait for the signs,” Dr. Becker stresses. Focus on “prevention first.” Pets age fast, and when it comes to illness they are programmed to mask weakness, “they’re naturally secretive.” One to two visits a year is ideal, but if you suspect a problem, don’t hesitate, and don’t self-diagnose. “In the last two years I’ve seen four or five cases where people went to the internet for help, and by the time they get to the vet it’s too late,” says Dr. Becker.
Her nose had been so severely bitten her cartilage was left exposed.
She went to hospital where she was told she’d need extensive surgery and 16 stitches.
Doctors took a ‘flap of skin off Sam’s hairline’ and used it to cover up her nose. They also ‘twisted’ her nose to ‘help the skin take to it’.
Sam was told it would take 18 months, at best, for her face to heal, but there is also a chance she will never be able to feel her face again.
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Your dog can help get you a date! One study showed that a man’s chances of getting a girl’s phone number went from 10% to 33%, just by having a dog with them. In the study, a staggering 66% of men and women would not date someone who didn’t like pets.
She has another operation in three weeks which she is hoping will help make her look ‘normal again’.
‘I don’t go out as much at the minute because it’s painful for me to walk around in the wind,’ Sam said. ‘If I’m honest, I’d like to turn back time.’
Police are trying to catch the woman, believed to be in her early 50s, who owns the dog.
Sam stressed she does not want the dog to be euthanised, she ‘just wants people to be more careful and tell people if their dog is not safe’.
‘If it was a little kid, there could have been much more damage – it clearly wasn’t safe,’ Sam said.
A lawyer who specialises in the Dangerous Dogs Act, Trevor Cooper, told Metro.co.uk that the owner could possibly be convicted for not keeping her dog under control.Get Rid of Skunk Smell with Hydrogen Peroxide & Baking Soda. Did your dog get skunked? You can get rid of that nasty skunk smell from your dog using some soap, peroxide & baking soda.
If that happens, the only way the owner can keep her dog alive would be ‘to prove on the balance of probabilities that the dog would not constitute a danger to public safety’.
Officers are appealing for help to find the woman, describing her as: ‘Around 5’7″ tall, of slim build and in her early 50s wearing glasses, dark clothing and a hoody.’
Be realistic. Unrealistic goals will only prevent you from growing. There are two common mistakes a dog owner can make that will slam the brakes hard on any potential progress you might be hoping for. First, the expectations we place on our dogs and ourselves. The misguided belief that your dog “should” be performing or responding at a certain predetermined level. Another mistake many owners make is having unrealistic assumptions. Many of us assume that our dog understands what we want and that he knows what we’re asking of him. As if that wasn’t bad enough, some of us assume that the dogs failure to perform means he’s either rebelling, stubborn, or just plain stupid.
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