Ch 5. How do you tell people about the Pig-Dog?

The Pig-Dog is hard to distinguish from the family pet. When they are quite and at rest, the Pig-Dog is just another dog. If you have never seen a Pig-Dog in action, if you have never seen a feral Pig-Dog; never seen the impact of the dog, then it is hard to appreciate how frightening it can be when the Pig-Dog is just lying there; still.

When new teachers come into the environment, innocent of the impact of the Pig-Dog, what do we do? We do not want to scare them. We do not want them to pity. We do not want them tip-toeing around not knowing what to do. We may awaken their own fears. We may be asking them to face memories that they have been ignoring. How do you protect the child’s privacy? How do you avoid the teacher making innocent comments that are inappropriate?

Yet somehow, in some way, we must ensure that everyone who works with young people knows about the Pig-Dog of domestic violence. If one in three are victims; then a minimum of one in three children have been exposed to the experience. With 27 children in a classroom, the Pig-Dog is stalking nine of them.

The conversation is imperative. The Pig-Dog stops learning. The Pig-Dog makes you scared. Scared children get angry. Angry children don’t learn. They may be silent and angry. They may be loud and angry. They may be aggressive and angry. They may be disconnected and angry. But the Pig-Dog wins if we do not learn to manage its presence.