At age 7, a great uncle had given the Hammer children each their own puppy. A week later, Hammer's mother blamed David for his brother's puppy being hit by a car. To ‘teach him a lesson,’ she made Hammer scoop up the corpse and put it in a gunny sack. She then hit Hammer, screaming incoherently, then commanded him to fill a second gunny sack with rocks. To his horror, she put the two remaining puppies into the sack and hit them repeatedly with the shovel. When Hammer tried to stop her, she slapped and kicked him. Afterwards, she made him carry the sack with her to a nearby pond and they threw it in the water. Smiling, she told him to never tell anyone. Over the years, the sexual and mental abuse, the ‘enemas,’ and the beatings continued. Hammer was beaten with extension cords, hair brushes (the bristle side), ash trays, open hands and closed fists.