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#1
03-16-2011, 08:16 PM
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dogs & kids - trust your gut!
Monday March 7th I experienced my second worst fear, a serious injury to one of my babies.
I came home late, around 2pm from work (usually home by 12-1pm). My husband hadn't laid the babies down for their nap yet, so I started my chores @ home with getting them settled down for a short nap before we had to walk down to the bus stop to get Brooklynn @ 4. They are usually up for 30 mins or so before they conk out. Well I let Caliber lay in my bed so that he could watch cartoons, I didn't think that late he would even sleep. So after I had FINALLY gotten Edyn down I started making Ramen Noodles (my first meal of the day! I was so busy!!). I hear something fall, and then a voiceless scream. I walked from the kitchen to livingroom to head into my room, and Caliber comes out COVERED in blood! He had 3 lacerations on the right side of his face! It was an absolute nightmare I just panicked and immediately started running around looking for a towel and my phone to call DH and 911 I was shaking sooooooo much! They finally came like 10 minutes later. I was out at my gate with my purse, my 2 year old, and my bloody son! Everyone started coming at me with questions, but I didn't have any answers other than, he must have fallen off the bed. After talking to the officers and fire marshal guy (or whatever he was) a Fire Rescue man came to me and told me he said doggy bit him! My heart sunk.... I had to stay and answer questions about the dogs, about just about EVERYTHING under the sun while DH did 90 trying to make it home. They airlifted him to All Childrens in St. Petersburg, a freaking 1hr and 15 min drive (prolly not quite that long I ran tolls and did 90 myself). Finally they let us go see him. Child Protective Services is involved, we had to stay in hotel rooms for a week while we found a place to move (we lived in a trailer that was falling apart) for the safety of the kids (I actually had started saving the week before so I had like 500 bucks), now its just a big headache from all the cps stuff we have to do because they are not willing to bend a little with our schedules (one car and two separate shifts). I had the gut feeling from Day 1 when DH INSISTED we get that dog (old doberman who was going to be put down if they didn't find him a home - skiddish and anxious) that it was bad news because of the chaos a home with 3 young children can cause! Caliber being the rough and tumble boy (still haven't had a chance to get him to the Dr. to start pinpointing issues if there is any) had jumped on him while he was sleeping and he had a knee jerk reaction to bite. It's been a very hard week, but I've prayed hard and had some people close to me praying too. I don't have any pictures of the injury before sutures, but those images will forever be embedded in my memory! 18 hrs after sutures (with bandage)  2-3rd day 03/09-10/11 When it peaks for swelling.  1 Week after 03/14/11  Took this morning, 03/20/11 
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Last edited by SarahMD; 03-20-2011 at 12:28 PM. 
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#3
03-16-2011, 08:28 PM
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poor little guy, I hope he is ok....I am guessing the dog is gone? I hope he is ok and CPS will eventually be understanding and you can get through this~I'll be keeping you guys in my prayers and thoughts~
Last edited by nun69; 03-16-2011 at 09:33 PM.
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#4
03-16-2011, 08:43 PM
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Bless his heart! Sending lots of prayers to him & you guys.
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#6
03-16-2011, 08:57 PM
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Oh wow that is scary (and CPS in Florida are an absolute nightmare!! Never had to deal with them personally but Ive heard really horrible stories!!). My son got bit in the face when he was 3 or so by his grandparents dog. It was a cocker poo I thin...mean little dog. I did not let my son around the dog but my husband was watching him that day and he was outside working while my son was watching cartoons. The dog bit his nose. My son has about a 1/2 inch scar on the tip of his nose now. His was not really bad though and did not require stitches. The dog passed away shortly after that. My son is really scared of alot of dogs now even at 17!
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    Dreaming of creating for Cindy Schneider, Studio Flergs & Kristin Cronin-Barrow
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#8
03-16-2011, 09:47 PM
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yeah, they aren't so much a pain to deal with like they are pointing fingers and being down right mean, but they are a pain that I have to like jump through hoops... they have SOO many procedures and protocols for things like this I guess.
Monday Cal had his follow up with the plastic surgeon who had done the stitching and putting back together, they were really pleased and happy with the progress told me to keep it up on the after care because it looks great. That simply wasn't enough I guess. I had to go see the Child Protective Team ?? today with one of their nurses and retell the whole story over and over again. It's like they are suspecting I'm a horrible mother, and when I interact with Caliber around them after the initial introduction and especially when they ask what I do for a living they act shocked and yet relieved maybe to hear I am a preschool photographer... I get the "Oh really?" happy surprised face like EVERY time I have to repeat the story and personal details of the family. I'm certainly glad to have had that push to move out of the other place as we had been saving like I had said... I'm just sad it was under these circumstances. Everything happens for a reason I guess. I never neglected my kids, but I did take certain things for granted. I'm always fighting with DH about things and when I gave up on the fight with the damn dog I gave up the fight on my kids' safety and thats where I feel the worst. Things have changed a lot and I'm like high alert with EVERYTHING. I've gone from somewhat relaxed parent to: don't do that, don't do that, omg never ever do that! ew... look at your hands go wash them. caliber don't eat the barbeque sauce, no you cannot have a sip of my soda you can have milk..... and now I'm paranoid to let them play outside. The dog is still in quarantine until Friday. And yes, we actually did find someone willing to take him knowing the situation. Caliber could very well have been antagonizing the dog. He does it to our other two (gracie - olde english bulldog and matthew - our adult dobie) we've had them since we moved here to florida in '09 and he's just as playful with them but I've never even heard either of them growl. CPS is giving us the ok to keep them because they've interacted with them too. Our case worker is pretty sweet, from day one she said, you work with me, and I'll work with you. So that's what I'm doing. Today I drove over 300 miles for my job round trip to and from the school, and got home at 1:50 to leave and go to THEIR dr. appt at 2:30. She called me Monday with two options... that was the best one I could get, and DH was a flippin' hour late to work! Anyway, I'm ranting still. I think now she is asking for some references that will back up that I'm an awesome mom and just awesome all the way around... I already have my few picked out, hmm ANYONE that knows me personally hello? But I'll be using my District Manager probably, and my Lead Photographer (supervisor)... probably life long friends and coworkers too. Thanks everyone for the prayers. At this point I'm just praying he doesn't bump his head and open up one of the cuts again... or possibly an infection before it is fully healed. And for the CPS to finish their "investigation" giving me the thumbs up to continue my life as normally from here on out as I can...
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#10
03-16-2011, 10:45 PM
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I'm so sorry to hear this. The whole story with CPS just burns me up. I can't BELIEVE all that you're going through because the DOG (not you!!) bit your child. Isn't this a miserable enough time as it is?
My family went through a CPS investigation when I was about 12 because our neighbor had a grudge against my parents and so called them up. Of course there were no problems at all, and the caseworker broke down sobbing in front of my parents saying that she hated her job and she hated having to give good people a hard time while the parents who were actually terrible parents slipped through the system. A bad parent would not have rushed her child to the emergency room or driven all that way to check on him in the hospital. For heavens sake, a bad parent wouldn't have made her child take a nap! Just because your trailer was run down doesn't make you a bad parent. It just means that you're not as well off as others. Yes, it's probably best to get to a newer, more maintained place. But still... You have my total sympathy. I hope that your baby gets better and that you're able to work through this with CPS without any terrible reprocussions. Good luck!!
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Chelsey -------  
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#11
03-17-2011, 12:49 AM
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oh my
 hugs hugs hugs to Caliber. I hope it heals well and that he is doing good. Jacob my oldest son was attacked by a family member's dog when he was 4 years old so my heart just goes out to you and him.
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#13
03-17-2011, 11:03 AM
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Quote:
I'm so sorry you're having to deal with all that while you already have more than plenty on your plate, Sarah! I will definitely be keeping all of you in my thoughts & prayers . . . 
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#14
03-17-2011, 11:24 AM
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Oh dear.... I hope Calliber gets better soon and CPS back off from your family soon *hugs*
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#15
03-17-2011, 06:58 PM
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Your poor baby! And I guess it never occurred to me that CPS would get involved with a first time dog bite by a family pet. That's kinda crazy.
My DH was wrestling with our puppy a couple months back and the puppy got one of his sharp little puppy teeth hooked through my husband's ear and DH ended up having to get stitches to his ear lobe. Someone came to him in the hospital to give him information on filing charges for assault. I guess they thought he was in a knife-fight or something.  Since I am a religious Caesar Milan follower and kept telling DH not to wrestle with the dog, I felt soooooooooo obnoxiously smug about the whole incident......
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#16
03-17-2011, 07:16 PM
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Holy Cow! What an experience! So glad your son is doing well. And prayers that the CPS thing gets resolved quickly!
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#17
03-17-2011, 10:10 PM
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Oh poor little guy!! I hope everything works out for you guys!!
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 Creating for Melissa Bennett & Lliella Designs!!  
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#19
03-18-2011, 01:04 AM
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Ok this makes me a bit nervous ... our dog is getting older ... and once in awhile will snap at the boys (mine are teenagers) when they bug him too much. ...and they have one friend the dog just won't make friends with and I really think the kid hasn't done anything wrong ... so I can't figure out what is up with our dog on this person...but he growls at him and doesn't want to be petted. ...but this bothers me that they are giving you so much trouble!!!
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Thanks!
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#20
03-19-2011, 08:14 PM
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So sorry to hear about your son. What a trooper he looks in the photos though.
Hang in there w/CPS. If you can "read between the lines," you'll be able to figure out why they're doing what they're doing. They have to protect the child. And they don't know you from Adam, so how can they know if you're a good parent from a true abusive parent. And they're probably being extra cautious since they screwed up on the other case a few years ago. And why they keep asking you the same questions - to see if you're going to change your story. If you're telling the truth, you give the same answers. If there are other reasons for those injuries besides a dog bite, a guilty person changes a story a bit each time. After this is all done, if you're on good terms w/your case worker, maybe you can ask her about similar cases. I've heard where there has been bite marks that blamed on a dog, but they're not dog bites. Hang in there.
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#21
03-19-2011, 10:21 PM
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Oh my --what a terrible event! I hope your son recovers with no side effects. I will by praying for your family!
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#22
03-20-2011, 12:27 PM
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updated with pic
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#23
03-20-2011, 12:38 PM
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It is looking a million times better!! I really hope that DCF decides to close whatever investigation they have though because anybody could have a dog bite their kids. Dogs do not know any better. I just do not get the reasoning for investigating someone because their child got bit by a dog. It was a horrible accident which could happen to any person who owns a dog.
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Dreaming of creating for Cindy Schneider, Studio Flergs & Kristin Cronin-Barrow
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#24
03-20-2011, 01:06 PM
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There have been several instances where kids were taken from their homes because of dog bites. One here right near me was because a mom brought her baby over to her boyfriends home, sat the baby down in a seat on the ground with 2 pitbulls in the room and went into the back room with the boyfriend. The baby was attacked by both dogs...they ate through the diaper and ate his testicles...CPS stepped in first call.
Another one I read recently was where the parents didn't alert the police that their pitbull attacked their 10 year old. They kept her home from school a week and when she went back, school officials alerted authorities. All three kids were removed because they said they should've been notified and they could still be at risk with the dog in the house. CPS looks at the whole picture. If CPS has been called in on the family before, then that will play into it as well and could get the kids removed depending on the call and what they found. They aren't perfect, but they take their job seriously and hopefully they do the right thing.
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#25
03-20-2011, 05:38 PM
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I even asked if she could do a referral for day care assistance because of how expensive it is for care for 3 children. I feel better when they are getting structure and education. But so far all is well and we've settled into the new place just fine... kind of a blessing in disguise because we needed to get out of that other place... and we found a good land lord who seems very understanding and is happy to have us in here, lol. He was so excited that after one night we had already painted all the rooms and moved in 90% of our stuff. Thanks everyone for the well wishes!
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