Make an ice lick by freezing toys, bones, and chicken broth into a cake mold.
“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.”Dog Got Stung? Remove the Stinger with a Credit Card. When you try to pick out a stinger from your dog you risk leaving part of it in the skin. Remove stingers by scraping them with a straight edge – like the side of a credit card.
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."
Keep Them Active. Energy varies between breeds, says Dr. Becker. “Greyhounds, Labs, Golden Retrievers, Jack Russell Terriers, Border Collies, and other active breeds have unfathomable energy.” He continues, “wolves spend 80% of their time awake, moving. With cats, there’s not such an exercise requirement,” but providing outlets for play at home is still crucial. For both cats and dogs he recommends food-dispensing that “recreates the hunt,” and puzzle feeders that engage your pet’s “body and mind.”
"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.
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“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.
Why are dogs’ noses so wet? Dogs’ noses secrete a thin layer of mucous that helps them absorb scent. They then lick their noses to sample the scent through their mouth.
“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.Print out and keep this handy chart of what foods your dog should NOT be given.
