My daughter is six,is terrified of dogs big or small.It's starting to control her life. Who can help?

Question

My daughter is six,is terrified of dogs big or small.It's starting to control her life. Who can help?

Answer 1

I was like this when I was little. My dad took me to a shrink, but it didn't work. I did end up growing out of it though when I was about 12 or 13 because I started staying at friends' houses where they had dogs...it was either stay home and hide from the dogs, or miss out on the fun. Untill then I jumped into my dad's arms when I saw a dog (even a small weiner dog scared the crap out of me), and wouldn't want to go anywhere I knew had a dog (I'd cry so hard and make myself sick over it). Just being around the dogs helped. I suggest taking her around dogs, but hold her in your arms or on your shoulders...slowly introduce her to the dogs, let her get used to them before putting her down. Make sure they're older dogs, less hyper so they don't try to jump all over her. Or you can wait till she's ready to get over the fear herself, trust me, it'll come. One day it'll just click with her that not all dogs are bad.

Answer 2

When you find out let me know. My daughter is 8 and the same way. Her grandma was attacked by a dog and she had fallen and her leg shattered. My daughter knows about this and is just terrified. I try so hard to not have her be so scared but she is. Its really sad because she will stay in the house for hours if she sees a dog outside. Oh and the next door neighbors small dog bit her on her forehead a couple years ago. Obviously that didnt help. The dog barely broke skin, thankfully. I really want to get a family dog someday so Im hoping eventually she can learn to not be so afraid. (and if my boyfriend will give in to me, he doesnt like dogs either)

Answer 3

My daughter is also 6 and also terrified of dogs. We all know why-we used to have to walk past a house with two huge dogs who would lie in wait until you neared their fence and then bark their heads off. That was 4 years ago and to this day, all but the tiniest dogs send my daughter screaming, and even a small one that barks will scare her.



What has helped is that my brother's family has an old, friendly, non-barking dog who is the sweetest thing on the planet. My daughter loves her and will sit and pet her, feed her, even let her climb up on the couch next to her. When we haven't seen them for awhile, it will take her some time to warm up, but after awhile she will be best buddies with this dog every time.



You don't need to get a dog of your own, but if you know of anyone with a docile, older dog, maybe you can help your daughter meet it and get used to it over time. This is really the only thing we've found that helps.

Answer 4

She didn't happen to watch Cujo did she? Honestly, I am a very small woman and I fear large dogs because they can be unpredictable. Even the smallest of dogs appear quite fearsome to a small child of six. For now, you should

accept her little feelings because her little feelings are valid. Always reassure her and let her know you will protect her from mean dogs. Make sure to ask friends or family who have dogs, to please put them somewhere else while you're visiting. At the same time, maybe you can let her watch more shows on TV like Lassie or Benji and introduce her to friendly dogs that belong to people you know to help her feel more at ease around them. A nice, calm, obedience trained dog would be great to help her ease out of this stage of fear.



I had this happen to my little five year old daughter. It drove me nuts until I bought her a puppy. A very small puppy. Chihuahua. She was so taken by her, she forgot all about being afraid of dogs anymore. I told her that she was the puppy's mommy now. She loved it. Also, let her know to always be careful around any dogs that she doesn't know, as they will surely reinforce her fear if one attacks her. Let her know that still, all dogs cannot be taken for granted that they will be nice. I hope this helps and good luck.

Answer 5

maybe u should bring her to a doctor, it could be some events that happen that cause her to be like that.if not bring her more often to see the world outside as the person on top says.

Answer 6

buy her a small chihuahua, or some other dog that's very small, get her to play with it, trust it, then you'll see her come back little by little.