Reply to Extreme fear of dogs

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "Extreme fear of dogs"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]My kid was pretty afraid of dogs when he was little - probably until 4th grade or so when he was finally taller than most of them.

I didn't do anything over special about it, other than pick him up if I could when we passed a dog on the sidewalk, or make sure he was opposite me from the dog (and I made sure to tell the dog walker that my son was afraid and did not want to say hi).

I also didn't prevent interactions with dogs that I personally know are friendly and that I have experience with. For example, when we'd visit a family member who has a big friendly excitable dog, I would make sure that the initial few minutes took place in the backyard so the dog had space to run off energy, my son wasn't in a confined space with it, and then once we went inside I didn't do anything special to prevent their interactions but I would help redirect the dog if my son got upset (this dog is wonderful, I've known her since she was a puppy, and she listens to me so I was very comfortable with how she would behave towards my son).

My son is now 14 and we have our own big dog, who he sleeps with at night.

With your child, when passing a dog on the sidewalk, you could try to stand in a driveway a short distance away while the dog passes. Try to stay calm. If you are not afraid of the dog, you need to demonstrate that there is nothing to fear. Your child can probably sense you tensing up, and that's going to make things worse. Come up with a strategy for avoiding them, talk to your child about it in advance, and then practice it while you're out and about.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics