Okay... let's talk DOG.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I have owned dogs for over 50 years. Never had a biter in the bunch. One thing with people who have a fear of dogs, they seem to think the little dogs are safer. I will take my chances with a big dog over a little one anyday. There's a reason they are often known as ankle biters. My two, Buddy Dog the worlds greatest retriever and Murphy Doodle the gentle giant, wouldn't hurt a fly. Both are 85 pounders. Murphy loves kids and old people. He loves to go up to carriages aNd stick his giant head in to see babies, sometimes to the dismay of moms. His favorite kids are the 3 year olds. They are at his level. He goes up to them nose to nose and stares at them.

 

I don't disagree that smaller dogs can be aggressive however... if I can drop kick a dog, then my fear level is substantial less than the fear of a dog that could maul me, or worse yet, maul my child.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Bailey does not discriminate either... big or small, she is fearful however, if a small dog is not jumping and is very calm then that's our best bet with her being calm and maybe brave enough to say hi or a very quick pet (I can only think of one or two occasions where this has happened).

 

If that's the case, if you do setup some "play dates" I'd definitely go for a very calm environment where everyone is sitting down quietly.

 

Honestly in my experience, you don't get a whole lot of "calm" with the really small dogs, unless they're exceptionally well trained, tired or very old. 

 

 

Random, related, dog tangent...

 

A friend of mine has a 2 year old boy and recently took in a very old foster dog.  The dog (Maisie) is 13, was very over weight, has arthritis and was in overall poor condition when she got her. Needless to say she was a bit grumpy and not super keen on the attentions of an active 2 year old boy. 

 

My friend (who's been a rescue volunteer for a long time) taught her son to give the dog a wide berth and of course they were supervised all the time.  When the little boy is playing, Maisie is usually hanging out quietly in another room. The little boy learned to wave to Maisie and say "hi" to her from a distance, and to ask his mom to "move Maisie" if he needed to go somewhere that would bring him too close to her.  Every time he'd walk by (at a distance) he'd tell her she was a "good girl." (yes, he's adorable) When they did interact it was with mom closely supervising, boy sitting quietly holding treats out in an open hand, and Maisie encouraged to come over at her own pace.

 

It didn't take very long at all before Maisie learned that this little boy wasn't going to bother her and wasn't anything she needed to be concerned about. And bonus - 2 year old boys drop food. 

 

Cut to a couple of months later and the little boy now takes Maisie for walks, they hang out together, the grumbling has stopped completely (also helped by her losing weight and feeling better overall), and my friend has decided that if no one adopts Maisie, she's welcome to stay.

 

That's the reverse of the kid afraid of dog scenario, but same rules apply when it comes to slowly changing the association to the thing feared from bad to good.  :)

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

If that's the case, if you do setup some "play dates" I'd definitely go for a very calm environment where everyone is sitting down quietly.

 

Honestly in my experience, you don't get a whole lot of "calm" with the really small dogs, unless they're exceptionally well trained, tired or very old. 

 

 

Random, related, dog tangent...

 

A friend of mine has a 2 year old boy and recently took in a very old foster dog.  The dog (Maisie) is 13, was very over weight, has arthritis and was in overall poor condition when she got her. Needless to say she was a bit grumpy and not super keen on the attentions of an active 2 year old boy. 

 

My friend (who's been a rescue volunteer for a long time) taught her son to give the dog a wide berth and of course they were supervised all the time.  When the little boy is playing, Maisie is usually hanging out quietly in another room. The little boy learned to wave to Maisie and say "hi" to her from a distance, and to ask his mom to "move Maisie" if he needed to go somewhere that would bring him too close to her.  Every time he'd walk by (at a distance) he'd tell her she was a "good girl." (yes, he's adorable) When they did interact it was with mom closely supervising, boy sitting quietly holding treats out in an open hand, and Maisie encouraged to come over at her own pace.

 

It didn't take very long at all before Maisie learned that this little boy wasn't going to bother her and wasn't anything she needed to be concerned about. And bonus - 2 year old boys drop food. 

 

Cut to a couple of months later and the little boy now takes Maisie for walks, they hang out together, the grumbling has stopped completely (also helped by her losing weight and feeling better overall), and my friend has decided that if no one adopts Maisie, she's welcome to stay.

 

That's the reverse of the kid afraid of dog scenario, but same rules apply when it comes to slowly changing the association to the thing feared from bad to good.  :)

 

 

**melt**  

 

Very sweet story.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

An update just this morning about the dog/boy I mentioned above...

 

"Originally I wasn't sure Maisie was a big Kieran fan. But it turns out, she's pretty amazing with him. She wags and cries and leans when he gets home. Puts up with some shenanigans like a stuffed dolphin on her back, rarely even budges when tractors start vrooming all around her. Kieran will squat down next to her and say 'hi Maisie, do you need food? Mommy, Maisie needs food' so she gets plenty of treats from her boy. Not so sure this dog is leaving....."   :)

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

An update just this morning about the dog/boy I mentioned above...

 

"Originally I wasn't sure Maisie was a big Kieran fan. But it turns out, she's pretty amazing with him. She wags and cries and leans when he gets home. Puts up with some shenanigans like a stuffed dolphin on her back, rarely even budges when tractors start vrooming all around her. Kieran will squat down next to her and say 'hi Maisie, do you need food? Mommy, Maisie needs food' so she gets plenty of treats from her boy. Not so sure this dog is leaving....."   :)

 

Sounds like a wonderful, happy ending... or should I say, beginning :)

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

Our Savannah pretty much ignores our kids, except to try to stay away from the wheelchair wheels.  She does lick their hands on occasion in case they have eaten anything.  She also follows Shawnee to the stair lift when I transfer him.  She's there to clean the floor of any crumbs he might have had in his lap.  She is very protective of the family and gives some mighty threatening growls and snarls to any one who comes in except a few she sees a lot.  And if they miss a few visits, they pretty well have to start over with her.  She's got a big bark for her 20 pounds and she uses it in parking lots, at stop lights, and whenever the door bell rings.  But she's a pretty good dog, and we will keep her..

[Retired & Tired (Judy) 90]

As dh said above our Savannah is very protective of all of us.  She will bark at anyone who comes in and will try to run up to them.  Those who know her well now know that she is running to them to be petted.  She has even barked at me until I say something to her, then she knows it is me.  Anyone who will just stop and let her come to them will find a dog with a wagging tail waiting to be petted.  She loves people.  Blakes nurse is terrified of her and refuses to try and get to know her.  Even if I am holding Savannah she will not get close to her.  I want her to get over her fear but I don't thank that is going to happen.  

 

When Ashley (Ken talked about her above) got use to Savannah she would tell all her other family members how she was feeding her and not be afraid of her because she would take care of the dog when they are around.  Ha!  While on vacation this past summer, Savannah went through a period of not wanting to eat and we were really worried about her.   After 2 days of that Ashley said : "Nana Svannah is o.k. now I got her to eat."  When asked how she said "I just put her food in my hand and she ate it all".   She had our dog thoroughly spoiled by the time we were home from vacation.   Savannah would follow her around everywhere.  

 

I think some people never get past their fear of dogs.  But hopefully in time your daughter will get over her fear so she can enjoy being around them and maybe even having one of her own.