Dale was caught in the middle, carefully testing the waters with me. “She said you've scared the dog so badly it's traumatized. If I bring him back and he ends up in a cage again-”
“I will never put him in a cage again,” I cut him off, my words edged with frustration.
“What? So where will you put him if not in a cage?”
“In the child's room.”
“You don't really want Rex back, do you?” Dale thought I was joking. I took a photo of the empty child's room that I cleared out this afternoon and sent it to him. My heart shattered as I packed away his belongings, my poor son, defeated in life by a dog. How could this happen?
“I'm serious, his room is ready. Hurry up and bring him home.”
“Then where will Liam sleep?”
My heart tightened at the sound of my son's name. I swallowed, trying hard to maintain my composure as I replied, “Don't worry, I've got a cozy bed ready for him to sleep.”
The two of them fell silent. Shortly after, Dale's pretended reluctance but eventual agreement could be heard over the phone.
“Well, child’s room sounds okay. Just don't scold him if he gets on the couch, will you?”
“I won’t.”
I've always been a big dog lover. Most dogs were friendly towards me, except for this terrier named Rex. He bit me on his first day at our house. Fortunately, I was wearing cotton pants and wasn't bitten through.
Dale mentioned he had been wandering around for too long, causing stress and fear. But when Liam tried to get close to him, Rex bared his teeth at him. I was worried about my son getting bitten. But Dale didn't share my concern and saying, “Don't provoke him and he won't bite.”
His arrival made me uncomfortable. Why would he bring home a dog that was a danger to the family? Did he think this was Caesar Millan's show or something? Yet Dale pleaded with me to let us take in the dog temporarily and see if he would be tame down.
The dog behaved very well with him, but was aggressive and mean towards me and my son. As a compromise to ensure my child's safety and prevent Dale from feeling sad, I bought a dog’s cage and put Rex in there.
We lived with him for over a year and things were quite peaceful. I never expected the dog to bite my child one day. But how could he have bitten my child when he was always kept inside the crate? When I pulled up the surveillance camera footage, I was furious.