Gemma Atkinson has hit back at a troll after she posted a throwback video of her pet dog playing with her daughter Mia.
The clip saw her pooch Norman sitting patiently while the actress's three year old played with his hair and collar.
Mia seemed mesmerised by Norman's silver tag and appeared to enjoy her interaction with the pup, while Norman looked happily on.
Gemma, 38, captioned her post on Wednesday 18 January: "This just came up as a memory. The calming effect of dogs.
"I’ve lost count of the amount of times Norman or Ollie [her other dog] have without even knowing comforted Mia or instantly changed her mood (as they do with me daily).
"The amount of patience and love they have for her is so heartwarming".
After the upload however, one dog trainer chose to re-share the video as an example of "irresponsible" dog ownership and parenting on her own Instagram feed.
Gemma said some of her followers had flagged the re-share, and she addressed the claims directly before explaining she'd also contacted the trainer in private.
The trainer also used the former Emmerdale star's video as a "bad example" of how to teach dogs and children how to play together.
"Thanks for the msgs re the dog trainer using my video in a negative way," Gemma told fans in her Instagram stories.
"I've reached out to her privately and it's been removed. I have the upmost respect for anyone who works with animals, but it was really disheartening to see my video was used as a 'bad example' and the comments 'so irresponsible'.
"I know my dogs, I know my child, and I know I'm a responsible owner and anyone who owns a pet should be," the mum continued.
"Thanks to those who let me know about the video share."
In response to the criticism, Gemma went even further as she delved into the archives to show pictures of herself feeding baby Mia with Norman by her side.
The star insisted her dog has always been present, and while she refuses to "stay quiet" when strangers judge her parenting abilities, she also made it clear that Norman has never been left alone with her daughter.
In the original video, Gemma's fiancé Gorka Marquez, a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing who recently opened up about why he's not doing the show tour, reached over to monitor the duo.
He was also seen warning Mia not to pull Norman's hair.
"Lovely to see the interaction between them. Norman’s patience is wonderful but from watching your vids it’s also nice to see you’ve taught Mia to respect the dogs too," one fan wrote in the comments.
Another person praised: "You’re a very responsible parent and teaching Mia from a young age not to pull dogs hair but also not to fear them," followed by: "What a well trained and well behaved dog."
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