Scared of our dog?

Question

i have a chocolate lab and a cocker spaniel (large dog and a medium sized one) My dad had a baby with another woman and the baby comes to visit (they are not together anymore) every week. he is scared of both dogs!! they are the sweetest dog you will ever meet.

he was curious about them so i took him over to the cocker spaniel because the larger one is WILD!!!! well the dog l**k his face to greet him and my brother flip out!!

he likes to watch the dogs from afar and when they are in the cages but hids behind my legs when they come over to us. I have petted the dogs in front of him before to show him they are nice dogs but he is still scared.

he will pet there backs but when they turn around to look at him he gets scared

im 14 and my parents said if its gets worse the dogs will have to be given away or left outside from now on

and it snows a lot here o i don't want that to happen and i love playing with my dogs inside

Answer 1

Wow, your parents are so cruel.  A 14 year old shouldn't have to worry about any mental issues the 1 year old has with the dogs.  They obviously don't want the dogs and are using the kid as an excuse.  I repeat, HOW CRUEL.  

Try to teach em that not all dogs are cruel.  You're doing good by playing with the dogs in front of em.  

Here in Puerto Rico, there's a gang of wild dogs.  Every few months there a new batch of puppies running around the streets.  Even these wild dogs will not hurt someone.  The only dog that attacked me was the one that a guard had taken and turned mean.

Answer 2

The baby is probably picking up on his parent's fears.  Babies are very good at sensing if their parents are threatened by the dogs' coming close to him.  You are the "parent" of your dogs and need to train them never to approach the baby or l**k his face.  The dogs need to understand that the baby is a human and not a puppy.  Train them to remain calm and quiet and at a respectful distance so that the baby can approach them if he feels like it.  The cruelest outcome of this situation is if your dogs end up outside and isolated from the family pack, but you've failed to explain to them the behavior you expect from them.  You are their leader.  Please lead them.