I accidentally hurt my dog last night

[boohoohoo]

I have two beautiful dogs who we are devoted to. Last night I was emptying the dishwasher, I always put sharp knives point down in the basket, I had the basket in my hand putting the cutlery and knives on a high shelf (out of reach of my son) and a sharp knife dropped straight out of my hand and landed in the beagle, I screamed and she just shook her back and it fell out, she then ran and hid under the bed. My husband managed to get her out from under the bed with a bribe of cheese, her wound was superficial, with very little blood, we cleaned it up and physically she is fine.

I'm in such a state, I would never never hurt my dogs but I feel so guilty, she's a rescue dog who had such a terrible life, she was covered in burn marks, very underweight, she was so nervous, didn't know how to walk on a lead, couldnt run properly and not toilet trained. But we've worked so hard with her, she's such a lovely gorgeous dog, and although shes old and quite weak now (can barely manage a walk now) we want her last few years to be happy and full of love.

I'm meant to be the one who makes her life safe, and I've hurt her, I just feel terrible.

It sounds stupid but I don't want her to think that all people in life will hurt her, even someone who loves her so very much.

Don't beat yourself up, it was an accident and it sounds like no serious harm was done. Might be a good idea to keep the dogs out of the kitchen when you're cooking/putting stuff away in future though (I should probably do this too, my dog is always under my feet when I'm pottering around!).

It must have been a nasty shock for her, but give her a bit of time and I'm sure she'll be fine. One minor incident doesn't cancel out all the good work you've done in earning her trust and giving her a happy loving home!

Oh I understand how awful you must feel, but try not to worry too much. Give her lots of love and attention and she will forgive you. Dogs are so forgiving of our mistakes they put humans to shame.

Please dont be upset. It was an accident, and as Cheria said dogs are so very forgiving (look at how some still wag their tails when they are rescued from awful homes). Honestly pooch will forget about it, she knows you love her

As above it was just an accident. If you can try to appear relaxed and cheerful about it, because if you (understandably) are upset, it will make her fear and worry greater.

Good point actually - it's probably best not to make too much of a fuss when something like this happens, often the most reassuring thing you can do is try to just carry on as normal!

Thanks all, have calmed down she is fine and snoring loudly as usual, was just so shocking and I think I was so upset as she didn't make a sound which made me even more upset. My husband thinks I wouldn't have been so upset if I had dropped a knife in his back

She's really winding down now and struggles a lot of the time, and we all know she's in her twilight. I think quite often of her previous life and cannot ever know what horrors she endured, which is probably why I was so upset.

She's called Boohoo by the way, hence my name

Thanks again for your kind words.

She might not even have associated the pain with you. To her it might have seemed out of the blue and uncconected with what you were doing.

I'm so glad that you and she are feeling better now. And how lovely that a dog with such a difficult past has such a loving owner now.

I hate it when I accidentally hurt my dog -- step on his foot or whatever. I hate not having a way to tell him is wasn't intended.

I think Calatalie is right.
I know it's horrible... I stepped on my dog's toe recently, felt terrible

But it's unlikely your dog associated it with you, even less likely that she though you were trying to hurt her, and any changes in your behaviour will only confuse the poor thing.

Bless you and your dog, boo, you sound like real poppets!