Make sure your pet is in good company. Pets get lonely and depressed just like people do when they spend too much time alone. Cats are generally better on their own, but dogs and especially puppies don’t do well left to their own devices for extended periods of time.
“At that time, my son was sitting next to me in between me and this lady and my daughter was on the backseat,” Hastings said over the phone. “He kind of looked at me, and then my son, and then he lunged at my son twice and I got between them. Then my daughter screamed, and he went around to her and pulled her down to the ground."
Hastings said that after the dog attempted to lunge at her daughter again, she was able to restrain him and hold him down until they were able to get help. Because they live in a rural area, over 10 minutes passed before a neighbor drove by and noticed the incident.
“He took the children into his truck and then about five minutes later, another neighbor showed up and took the dog from me,” Hastings said. “At that point, all of EMS and Animal Control and them showed up.”INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Stories abound of owners whose dogs kept sniffing or licking a mole or lump on their body so they got it checked out, discovering it was cancerous. The anecdotal evidence was later backed up by scientific studies. Dogs are so good at this that some of them are trained to detect cancer, in as little as three hours.
Looking back on the attack, Hastings said that she was “shocked” by the day’s events, explaining, “I didn’t even know what was happening and I looked at my son and I’m like, ‘Did you just bite my kid?’ And that’s when he lunged a second time.”
Hastings noted that she had previously been around their neighbors' dog before and said that she and her family were not strangers to the animal. Every other interaction with the dog in the past, Hastings described as “fine."
The routine of caring for a pet can bring structure and purpose to daily life. Maybe you don’t always want to get out of bed, but your pet wants you to. Isn’t that a good thing?
"There's no telling what provoked him," Hastings said of the dog. "I literally still have no idea. I've thought about it a million times and I can't think of anything that we did that would have caused him to react."
All three of the family members experienced injuries, but Hastings said that she and her son are “mostly healed” and just have a few spots that are superficial on their bodies. Lainey, however, sustained more serious injuries that required multiple days in the hospital.
If you have an older dog with tooth troubles, add a little water or chicken broth to his or her kibble and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.
“She’s feeling well,” Hastings said of her daughter. “Every day she gets a little bit more facial control on her left side ... They were worried about nerve damage on the left side. That is still something that we're going to have to over the next year keep an eye on and keep track of that may require difference procedures and possible muscle grafts to get her to be able to smile and have control of her face on her left side."
Hastings said despite that, overall, Lainey is healing and appears to be in good spirits, all things considered. Since the attack, she’s been able to play around in the family’s backyard, but her mom notes that she’s still wary about being out in the open.
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Pets are a major source of support and increase the ability to cope, which contributes to keeping cholesterol and blood pressure down.
“That’s something that we’ll just have to continue to work through, her and I,” she said.
Hastings said she hopes by sharing her story, she can spread awareness on safety as a dog owner to prevent incidents like hers in the future.
She also emphasized the importance of being aware of your surroundings at all times.
"I wish that I had looked up and noticed her doorway open sooner, but even then the dog was not tethered so he would have come out to the road," Hastings said. "There wasn't much that I could do on that end."
NBC affiliate WYFF in Greenville, South Carolina reported that the dog was euthanized, according to authorities.Use Dog Toothpaste on a Rope Toy. If your dog doesn’t like having his teeth brushed squeeze some doggie tooth paste onto a rope toy & let them go at it. It’s a nice way to start desensitizing them to having their teeth brushed.
