tough-skinned

So I was thinking the other day; it's a good thing I've been eating sleeping and breathing all this house stuff and we don't have a ton going on that I'm missing out on recording here.
The kids have been awesomely cooperative and for the most part have been able to be shooed outside or playing well on their own. We've had random playdates and been on the go go go, but nothing of too much interest or too pressing or out of the ordinary to report.

Although Sawyer decided to change that up for me yesterday.





















My friend Joy called me up and offered me some kid-free time to get stuff done; they were spending the morning outside, and my kids were welcome to hang over there. Of course my kids had a great time playing with their two friends and the dog; more fun than me ignoring them with a paintbrush in my hand. Great fun until I came to pick them up after lunch...

When I got there Joy had Sawyer upstairs in the bathroom cleaning up a big five-inch gash on the back of his thigh. It was ugly. He was brave though and four band-aids later, and lots of hugs and kisses, he was back to playing.
But that's not all.

These friends have a very laid-back 85lb yellow lab who has always been great with the kids... they have their own three year old and one year old who are by no means gentle, and Cody has always been great with them, no worries. I have to admit they leave their kids un(der)supervised with that dog more than I would be comfortable with, but I've seen the torture loving that toddler has put that dog through and he takes it all in stride. My own kids are completely comfortable with Cody; we're at their house regularly and they live close so Cody's visited us here and hung out in our yard with the kids just as often. Great dog.
But combine the unpredictability of kids with the unpredictability of animals... and even the greatest dogs do not put me at complete ease when there are kids involved. I think I'd become a little lax on that and yesterday reminded me of it loud and clear.

Cody was laying near me when Sawyer came up and straddled his back. I've seen Sawyer do this before, with no problem, though I've reminded him always not to sit on the dog. Cody was looking a little agitated this time and just as Joy said, "I don't think Cody likes that right now Sawyer", I heard just a hint of a growl from the dog. At the same time, Sawyer got up to get off of him. I don't know if he kneed him wrong or if he stepped on his tail or if he just wasn't getting off fast enough, but suddenly Cody snapped around snarling

and bit Sawyer right in the face.

It all happened so incredibly fast... yet so painfully slow. The crazy thing is both Joy and I were basically within arms' reach and yet both of us were essentially helpless, it happened so quickly. I think when we realized what was about to happen/happening, Joy did speak out "Cody!" and I really think that saved this from being a real bite. Even though he had his mouth completely open and actually had Sawyer's nose mouth and chin in his mouth... he barely drew blood. I think having us there refrained him from actually biting. Maybe he wouldn't have anyway. Maybe he knew and had complete control and was just giving a serious warning. As it was, he had his teeth on him and gave just enough pressure to bruise and barely puncture... I honestly shudder to think how it could have been different if Joy or I were not right there.
I cannot get the image of my child's face in a dog's mouth out of my head.

Sawyer was, of course, a wreck. I don't think I've ever seen him so upset. Ever. It didn't start bleeding right away, so we didn't think he'd even broken the skin. Until a minute later when I picked Sawyer's head up from my shoulder to look at it again and there was blood all over my shirt. There were two little perfect puncture marks where the bottom canine teeth were... right on Sawyer's chin. I sat with him for a long time with a wet paper towel on his chin, trying to calm him down. He was a strange upset... not the usual owie crying... he was just so scared and I think shocked. I hated feeling that he was feeling that. I was powerless to comfort him. He just kept saying he wanted to go home and he wouldn't let me put him down.

We sat for a bit longer, letting Sawyer get calmed down and making sure it wasn't worse than we thought. We finally went to head out about 20 minutes later and before leaving I tried to get Sawyer to say good bye to Cody. The dog was laying calmly by the front door and I tried to get Sawyer next to him with me so he could say sorry to Cody for scaring him and for Cody to "apologize" to Sawyer... I think this was completely one of those situations where you can't really blame either of them. Just have to learn from it. At any rate, I don't want Sawyer to be scared of the dog. He needs to be cautious and aware... a healthy fear of animals, but I don't want him to be physically scared of Cody from here on out.
Sawyer would have nothing to do with it though. He started crying again and said he just wanted to go home and he wouldn't let me put him down.

And then the whole rest of the day, Sawyer would randomly say (and be on the verge of tears while he said it) "I don't ever want to go to Hannah's house ever again!".
Poor guy. It was a rough morning.














So now he's got almost a perfect circle of teeth marks around his face... two bigger bruised puncture marks on his chin and a little trail of slightly red bruised spots all the way up around in a circle around his mouth. It's lovely. I actually cringe when I look at him. It's really not all that bad, and I'm sure you won't even be able to see it in another day or two. But I see it. I see those little bruised dots and I see the jaws of a big dog on my little boy's face. I also see what it could have been. If Cody had actually bit down or if he had torn the skin... I see how things could have changed in that split second. And that makes me cringe. It makes me sick to my stomach actually.
I'm just so glad it is what it is. So thankful.

Now matter how well you think you know your dogs... no matter how much you think you can trust them OR your child... please be aware. And be right there. It only takes a split second.