If your child was bitten by a family members dog, did your relationship ever recover? What did you do to help restore it?

My son is now five and two years ago my in-laws' dog bit him. It was an unprovoked attack. He was playing on the floor when the dog walked up to him calmly then suddenly lunged at him and bit his head and latched onto his upper arm. The dog didn't growl, nothing. Just walked up to where my son was and at the last second attacked. My son has a scar on his forehead but it's very small and isn't noticeable. His arm has a scar that's about three inches long but it's healed really well.

My husband was right there beside my son when the attack happened and tackled the dog. He beat it within an inch of its life to get it to let go of our son's arm. The dog was understandably destroyed by the humane society because of the attack. Our son needed 62 stitches to his head and over 100 to his upper arm. He was very lucky it wasn't worse

Our relationship with my in-laws has not recovered. They believe we are to blame because we were always wary of the dog around our son. They believe this made the dog "jealous". My in-laws think we overreacted and blame us for the death of their dog, but it was an unprovoked attack. Our son was doing a little puzzle on the floor. He was playing quietly. The dog entered the den and within 5 seconds my husband was already on the dog. We've suggested therapy sessions but they are not interested saying that it won't bring their dog back and that they lost their dog and their family all in one day. My in-laws ended up paying big bucks for a necropsy. The dog was a perfectly healthy 4 year old poodle mix and no issues were found.

Our son doesn't really remember the attack. He is starting to forget his grandparents. We have reached out to them numerous times but we haven't seen them in over a year and a half. They refuse to call, text, or video chat They claim they will never forgive us for murdering their dog. I've suggested even getting together and letting them play with our son at the park or even going to the movies with him but they are not interested and it breaks my heart.

This was an unfortunate accident. No one is to blame. Has anyone experienced anything similar? If so, what did you do?

My husband and I have said many times to them that if they don't want a relationship with us, fine, but at least have one with your grandchild. They refuse.