My son has a fear of....

[mykidsmom]

....dogs. When he was a baby (about 1 year old) our only dog died. Ds just loved our dog. :heart He was a Sheltie and was just the greatest dog,ever. We haven't gotten another dog since.

Well, a couple of years ago ds got bit by mil's little wiener (sp?) dog. Enough so that it drew blood and gave him a nasty bruise. The dog also bit ds's cousin. Ds has since then been scared to death of all dogs. It doesn't matter the size. If the dog barks, ds takes off running and screaming. :( It frightens him to tears.

He actually wants a dog. A "nice" one, in his words. And maybe in the next month or so, we'll be able to get him one. We figure that will help him get over his fear. In the meantime, does anyone have any advice on how to cope with this fear? Everytime he walks out the door, he looks to see if the neighbors little dog (very barky) is coming around the corner.

Any advice would be appreciated. :)

[purplerose]

:hug2

Don't have much advice, but most likely he will outgrow it. My kids all used to be afraid of dogs too, but now they love them!

[boonpnutsmom]

I will offer :hug. My aunti is blind and she has had Guides all her life and mine. I was never afraid of dogs before I was bit at 10. I am still not afraid of her guides but I have an intense fear of dogs that I don't know. I think he would be ok with it after awhile, but I wouldn't push it. My DH would love a dog, but I am not a dog person at all. We have cats, fish, turtles, birds, plecos and chickens. I would think that should be enough for now.

[~yogamom~]

I was bit by a dog when I was 8-- there was blood and some bruising, but definitely nothing major. However, I was scared of dogs in varying degrees until I was, oh, about 20 or so. So I'm not sure what to say except that he'll probably outgrow it, and hopefully sooner than I did. I think a lot of that depends on whether one has an anxious personality or not (I do).

[mykidsmom]

I hope he does out grow it. I think getting him his own dog, may be theraputic. Hopefully things will work out so that we can. :)

Thanks ladies. :)

[Amber]

If you know someone who has a very gentle calm dog it might be worthwhile to expose him to it. My friend's dd is scared of dogs, when she comes over to our house I put my lab mix on a tie down by the sofa. My friend and I will talk and interact with the kids away from the dog. Eventually her dd will venture closer and closer to my dog, especially when she sees my ds giving the dog hugs or playing with her. The last time they were over we were able to let the dog off the tie down after a while, and as they were getting ready to leave her dd came up touched my dog on the side (a major step for her). We have seen some real improvements in how she reacts to dogs in just a few visits. We keep everything low key and don't put any pressure on her to interact with the dog at all.

[SouthPaw]

:tu Amber... I was visiting w/ a therapy dog group at an elementary school and that is exactly how they did it. They had one of the therapy dogs lie down & the kids could come brush it or pet it or play with it, if THEY wanted to... and the ones who weren't afraid really helped show the fearful kids that the dog wasn't going to hurt them. I think something like that would probably be good, before you bought a dog & then were stuck with it - even if DS remains afraid! :/ Especially if it's a puppy - puppies usually come without manners and may unintentionally nip or scratch him...I would hate for him to end up more afraid :( Could you look up a therapy dog group in your area and ask them to come visit?? I know mine would be perfectly willing to help out a little guy with his fear :heart :hug

[CelticJourney]

Everytime he walks out the door, he looks to see if the neighbors little dog (very barky) is coming around the corner.

Just thinking out loud....I got pinned and bitten by a large shepard when I was 6 or 7, but it's those little dogs that I don't like. So as much of a dog person as I am, I'm with your son on this one.

I have three dogs, one small lab, one regualar lab (my old man) and a 90 lb german shepard. My boys don't bark much, but occasionally one, usually the old man, will get right next to me and decide to bark at something - I about jump out of my skin! Talk to your son about this - his fear of the dog may be highly accentuated by the startle of the barking. Your neighbor needs to know about your son's concerns and keep their dog on their property! He has the right not to fear stepping out of his own home.

Best piece of advice to give you when the time comes, avoid getting a puppy - they are all teeth and jumping and won't help overcome fears. Get a 2-3 year old (or older) female who will look at him like a big, hairless puppy.

[mykidsmom]

The startle of the bark. That's it! Totally. I got to thinking about it and he really only frets when a dog is barking. Otherwise, he's o.k. Hmmm.... this makes sense. When he was 4 we lived next to a dog who did nothing but bark and run along the fence when anyone was in our backyard. This probably didn't help ds with his little fear.

I think I'll try to teach him about why dogs bark. Maybe talk to a dog trainer. So that he'll know it's not because they want to eat you. :)

[CelticJourney]

Hmmm.... this makes sense

Yeah! Today was my day to make sense! Glad you could benefit :cool