My Son and Dogs

I have always had dogs. I have two children whom have been raised with dogs and other various animals. My dog is large. He can be frightening to children. I take him to soccer games etc. because I know he is a perfect dog for little hands. My advice is baby- steps. Let him see other children playing with a dog. Comment on how funny the dog is being. Maybe next time encouage him to come closer and say someting to the dog. Even if it is just blabbering. He will start to feel safer. When he is ready hold him and let the dog smell his hand. He will feel safe with you. He might think its funny how wet the dogs nose is. Maybe then the next time he is around a dog he might venture further. Children are after all curious by nature. Always pick a kid friendly dog.

Hi, I am one of those people that has a huge friendly drooling, jumping dog (St bernard) he loves kids and a lot of times I have friends with little kids come over to play with my son and the kids always seem to do that at first it just takes a lot of being around him before they stop that plus seeing that my son is not scared of him seems to help too. Anyway I think its normal and he'll grow out of it. Just reassure him that its ok but at the same time make sure he knows not all dogs are friendly I also had the opposite problem with my son because he has this huge friendly dog he isn't scared of dogs and he got bit!! (He was ok but it was scary!!)

Close friends of ours have three lovely Rottweilers and our daughter loves them - as long as there is at least a foot of personal space : ) I think she is genuinely fond of them, but apparently got one lick to the face too many and now she does not want them that close anymore. When they get too close, she wants up.
I would say that I would want up in a hurry if I had a big slobbery muzzle right at my nose : )

I would think that this will work it self out as your son grows, gets more mobile himself and starts to understand dogs, cats and other critters more.

Hi S.,
Here is a true story involving my daughters and dogs.....I don't know when or how it happened but my youngest daughter was deathly afraid of anything w/ 4 legs and fur!! My oldest daughter would beg for a dog and constantly ask to pet other peoples animals, one night my mom took them for the night and at about 10:00pm she called me and all I could hear in the background was a blood curdling scream. Of course I panicked but my mom explained that it was my youngest girl scared of her (lovable) cat. You can imagine my confusion, we had cats at the time!? Needless to say her dad and I had to drive over to pick up my youngest daughter, because she refused to move from the place she was standing, even after the cat left the room. Nothing would calm her down until we left my mom's. :( Even a simple trip to the park, petsmart, any place there were animals of any kind became a nightmare, I had one kid running around "can I pet your dog, can I pet your dog", and the other kid so scared she was to the point of wetting her pants :(I couldn't live like this and neither could the kids so We got advice from everywhere we could, and the answers were all the same....GET A DOG OF YOUR OWN. I was reluctant but we spent 2 or 3 weekends searching for the right dog. We had to be very careful because we were planning on adopting from a shelter instead of a breeder or pet store. Their temperment had to be one that was not pushy but still be friendly.....we were running out of luck when my best friend said something that struck a chord " you wont find a dog, a dog will pick you as its family", and that is exactly what happened, "Zoey" found us and, now both of my daughters fight over who loves her more!! It took a few weeks but it started with the dog totally ignoring my younger daughter, "Zoey" had the instinct to wait for her to approach a little at a time! Now they are best friends, and cured her from the fear of any other animal! Long story but worth telling! I hope you can find some peace for your son!! Try getting a dog of your own! ~ K.

My son was the same way. Our in-laws have big labs that get overly excited when you go outside to play with them. My son got knocked over one time and that was it. He became afraid of all dogs after that. He didn't even like our dogs. You could tell that he wanted to pet them and play with them, but he was just too afraid.

We helped him by holding him on our laps to pet the dogs, making sure the dogs weren't jumping around, and having him help give the dogs treats. Things really didn't improve until we recently got a smaller dog. He love's our new dog and has become more at ease with our older lab that we have had for years. He love's to feed, play fetch with and take care of our new dog. He is almost four and it has been three years of being patient with him and showing him that dogs aren't something you have to be afraid of. Just make sure you teach him to be cautious and ask to touch or pet other people's animals.

Hi S.,
I had the same with my son and what I did was I would hold him when we would first meet the dog and safely in my arms have the dog greet us than when both the dog and the child are calm put him down. It has to be from the childs comfort level. Imagine an animal as big or bigger than yourself jump around you, that can be pretty scary. He is just a little person from his perspective the dog looks huge.
Good luck
G.
certified doula
http://www.superdoula.com

Hi S.,

My son was afraid of dogs for the first few years of his life. I just always reasurred him that the dogs were not going to hurt him. We were only around dogs that I knew, so I was sure he would not get hurt. I would get down on my knees at their level and pet the dog so my son could see nothing was going to happen. My son is 4 now and what really got him over it was getting a dog about a year ago. We took in a lab mix puppy. She is a great dog. My son has learned that while she may play with him and occasionaly knock him over that she doesn't want to hurt him.

S.

We have always had lots of animals, and one day at our friends house my son got too many dog kisses and almost 3 years later he is still scared of most dogs. but he is getting better, we got hi a puppy last year and he liked her till she jumped and it has taken almost a year for him to get close to her again. Be patient and reassure him that the dog doesn't want to hurt him only give love or kisses. Good luck!!