When Animals Attack

Okay, the picture's not that good (this is Cubby, by the way - no relation to John). But, for those who haven't heard, Peanut bit Christian on Saturday night (this is not a picture of it happening - it's not even Peanut). Christian stumbled into Peanut, who was resting/sleeping. Peanut, who has not been feeling well (see post below) got startled and bit him on the face. Kathleen and I both freaked out and we rushed Christian and Emily (who were both screaming - Christian who was hurt, and Emily who got the crap scared out of her with the commotion) to the children's ER at Bergen Mercy (amazingly, I only had to run one red light). Christian was seen fairly quickly (we were in and out of the ER in 3 hrs) by a plastic surgeon (am I doing too many parantheticals?). He was pretty upset, but they put him a papoose thingy so he couldn't move and had us leave the room. I'm going to leave out the rest of the details (we don't know how many stitches the doctor had to use - we forgot to ask).

Anyways, we were pretty pissed at Peanut (I haven't pet him yet). He's been in lock down in the kitchen or in the backyard. We haven't let the kids near him. Now that we've had a couple days to think about it, we are heart broken. Peanut really has become a member of our family. The kids love him, especially Christian (who, surprisingly, is not afraid of Peanut and wants to see him still). Kathleen and I have shed many tears, because Peanut really hurt us. We know he is a good dog, but we cannot keep him. He has done something that can be forgiven, but not forgotten. We can tell he is sorry and heart broken too.

The reason for this post is to see if a good family (without kids younger than 10) would like to take him. He really is a good dog and we seriously doubt he will bite again. We've talked to the vet, and he agrees that Peanut is not a vicious dog (he's a golden retriever for crying out loud), and a better option (rather than putting him down) is to give him to a good family. So, if you know someone who wants a 2 year old golden retriever with a heart condition, let us know.

Well, after that scare, Christian is doing great. He looks like he got beat up (with plenty of bruising and swelling), but you wouldn't think it. He has seems even happier. He's even babbling more. He's still running around and teasing Emily, and loves to be tickled. He's still that same cute little boy. He's our beautiful boy. He'll continue being the same cute little Christian, just with a few minor scars. Besides, chicks dig scars, right?

Look at that smile!