Have you ever dealt with a child afraid of dogs?

Question

My 4-year-old niece is terrified of dogs.. I have two 7 month old puppies- a 50lb husky and 40lb lab mix. The husky in particular scares her. Although she is even afraid of my sister's 7-10lb cocker spaniel puppy. No dog has ever attacked or done anything at all to her that would make her scared of them. She doesn't like coming into my house even with them gated in another room, and even when she sees me somewhere else she asks where they are because she's afraid I brought them or something. I know my dogs are young but they have been trained and are very well behaved, especially around children. I have eight nieces and nephews who love them and my one 2-year-old niece is best buddies and inseperable with my husky. I would never force them on her, but we'd all like her to realize dogs can be nice and fun and to not be afraid of mine or any. She literally flips out crying and screaming if one just comes walking near her. We (myself and her parents and siblings) have tried holding them so she could pet them, showing her they do tricks, play nicely with the other kids, etc but nothing seems to work. And yes she has dog stuffed animals and movies since that seems to be the advice I get, it's the real ones that she has a problem with haha. Has anyone experienced this with their kids? If so how do you help them?

Answer 1

It sounds like she has a real phobia of dogs.  If this persists for a few more years, I would suggest counseling, where they could gradually desensitize her to her terror of dogs.  You say she is still scared of a cocker spaniel puppy.  What about introducing her to a chihuahua?  They are so tiny, especially the puppies.  Perhaps if you called a breeder and explained the situation, they would be willing to let you and your neice spend a bit of time with them.

Answer 2

My neighbors daughter went through a phase of being terrified of dogs when she was 3, now since this was pretty much unacceptable considering i have 2 dogs and was just becoming her regular sitter what I would do would be to bring a picture of my dogs(Olivia(dalmation/beagle and Hunter-rottweiler) with me when i went to pick her up, i would then have her tell me all the wonderful and not scary things about puppies/dogs while we walked to my house (the soft hair the pretty eyes cute ears...), then we would remind her that when we got to my house Olivia and Hunter wee there and would love it if she would gave them a treat- I always had one in a baggie in my pocket too. after a week or so she no longer seemed bothered by he fact that i had dogs and would remind me to give her the treat. Now all kids are different but I hope you can adapt this to work for you with your niece.

Answer 3

i'm 15, and when i was like 3 or 4, i was terrified of dogs also

Answer 4

We adopted two school age children from Africa and when they arrived, they were terrified of dogs.  Dogs in their home country were not pets; they were feral and dangerous.  So, when I say they were terrified, I mean climbing the walls, screaming and crying, eye-rolling terror.  

It took a few days, then they were calm enough to have the dogs in the room.  Couple of weeks, they were feeding the dogs treats.  Few months, dogs are sleeping in their rooms.  

Actually, the treat feeding was what got the children most comfortable with them.  If the dog is well mannered enough to politely be hand-fed, that can be a lot of fun for children.  Instant gratification, so to speak.  Otherwise, I think it is also important not to overreact.  If you're immediately picking up the child and making a big deal out of her reaction, you are actually enforcing the behavior.  I'm not saying don't comfort a frightened child, but watch your own reaction so that you aren't making her think that she does have a reason to be terrified.  

We just would sit on the sofa, with the dogs on the floor.  I'd explain what the dogs were doing, why they were "shaking their tails" and constantly reinforcing that they won't bite.  It just takes time and patience.  

Answer 5

Those dogs are probably huge compared to your niece.  If they have knocked her down once or twice or jumped on her once and scratched her, that can hurt and stick in the memory for a long time.  Continue to be patient with her and she will probably grow to like your dogs with time.  Dont take it personally, they are just dogs after all.  Liking you is more important.