Well, I got my first dog when I was seven. That was twenty two years ago. I don't think this was mainstream until I well after I had my pups. Somehow, someway, people managed to train their pets before all of this.
I agree, I don't recall ever hearing about crate training with much force until fairly recently. And I do think it is perfectly possible to train a dog well without a crate. Every dog? No. But most dogs? Certainly. Crates are a useful tool, but not the end-all, be-all solution to every canine problem. And dog owners who don't have to crate their dogs and choose not to are not evil and negligent.



But 4 fingers? And the kid just got up and walked around the next morning? Come on!!! The puppy would have chewed through arteries. The kid would have lost a LOT of blood. Don't you think the kid would have at least lost consciousness from blood loss? The entire bed would have been covered with blood - you'd think that he would have gotten cold from the wet bed long before morning, assuming he was conscious.
I agree with this. My brother cut the very tip of one of fingers off with a saw once, and the amount of blood was simply horrifying. HUGE amounts of blood, and that was the tip of one finger. What this story is claiming makes no sense.


I don't believe this story is the truth. But, giving some benefit of the doubt here, assuming it happened sort of like it was told, here's my opinion:

My opinion on the puppy: There's nothing evil about this puppy. It's a teething puppy. Maybe a hungry puppy, we don't know. If you gave a puppy a raw beef bone with some meat attached, wouldn't you think it would be perfectly normal for the puppy to chew and eat it? Of course. So, not to be gross, but to a puppy, don't you think paralyzed fingers are just the same as a beef bone with meat on it? Sure. No one is telling the puppy "No!", no one is saying, "Ouch!" and pulling their hand away. Of course the puppy isn't going to stop, why would it? It's a baby, it doesn't know any better, it hasn't been trained or taught. Maybe the child ate, say, chicken for dinner and had chicken on his hands. (Although if the child's hand is paralyzed, how is he eating dinner with that hand? Hmmm .... but I digress.) And maybe they gave the puppy some chicken too. So the fingers now smell and taste just like the chicken the puppy was given to eat. Puppy doesn't know, it's just a puppy.


My opinion on the parent: I don't think letting a new puppy sleep with a partially paralyzed six year old is the greatest idea. But it's not the worst idea either. Honestly, would 99% of parents think, "Better not do that, what if the puppy eats his hand?" It's just too bizarre; the normal, rational person wouldn't think of it. I don't think the parents were negligent. Maybe not the best choice, but not negligent.