During my seventeen years of practice in the field of ophthalmology with a subspecialty of ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery, I have treated more than thirty dog bite injuries to the eye, eyelids, and face. These have involved major injuries including reconstruction of a totally removed upper eyelid, reconstruction for a silver dollar size defect in the eyebrow and multiple cases of avulsion and tearing of the eyelids from their attachments with tearing of the tear drainage ducts. Thus, I was extremely concerned when our two year old Lhasa Apso dog began to nip and later bite my three children and their friends. Even though none of these were serious injuries, I was extremely worried that a major injury could occur. We had made arrangements to give the dog to adults living in an isolated area with no children, but we were afraid this would not solve the dog's problem, even though it would solve our problem. At about this time we became acquainted with William Meisterfeld and his psycological approach to modifying animal behavior. After a six week program of retraining the dog using Mr. Meisterfeld's psychological approach without physical abuse, a marked change in the dog's behavior has occurred. This approach involves both modifying the dog's behavior and reactions, as well as educating us. At this point I am convinced that this is an excellent approach to solving dog behavior problems.

Earl Rathbun, M.D.