Fear of dogs - for Lorraine really - long!

[Guest guest]

Lorraine wrote

If the child in question has had a past bad experience with

a dog then that is the way he/she will react. I know for a fact my 10

yr old DS1 would behave similarly out of pure terror - an automatic

reaction on his part. I have seen it happen. But what can I do to

stop it? His fear of dogs is so big now and no matter what I say or

do makes no difference (not really helped by the fact that I am scared

too).

I thought you might find it helpful to know what my sister and I did

for the children of friends of friends who were petrified of dogs.

We both have Border Collies and have worked/trained them for quite

some time, my sister was also a vet nurse. Both children were boys

(separate families and this was done at separate times). The boys

wanted to be " cured " of their fear of dogs as well which probably

helped as they loved to play football in the park but were too scared

of dogs (of which of course there are usually plenty in the park).

Started off by finding stories about dogs - some real life, some

make-believe - doing good things and helping people. The boy would

then come round to our house, knowing that there were dogs there, but

the dogs would be locked up and would not make a noise. He would be

there for a few minutes and then go away. When he was OK about it,

one of the dogs (usually soppy old Basil) would be lying in the

hallway when he came in but would not move or even look at him. The

boy would go past and again spend a little time in the house before

leaving. Then again when happy about it, the boy would sit in the

room with Basil lying in the corner. When he could see that Basil was

not going to jump up or bite him (or whatever else he was scared of)

usually the child would be happy sitting next to him and stroking him.

Again Basil would remain still apart from wagging his tail!

Eventually we progressed to each boy taking Basil out in the garden

and playing with him. Basil loves fetching balls and will happily

spend all his time retrieving them and chasing them (which

incidentally seems to keep most boys amused for hours!).

Obviously this would only work if (a) child does not want to be scared

of dogs any more and ( you can find a very well-trained dog to

" practice " on. You don't live that far away from me (I'm in Tunbridge

Wells) so if you would like to try it with Basil, I would not mind!

Alternatively what about your local dog training club (I don't mean

just people taking their puppies for basic training but people who

work their dogs for obedience (usually steadier dogs than those worked

for agility). Or a local vet might know someone who does this. We

were put in touch with these children through my sister's friend who

is a vet nurse and knew them.

HTH

Francesca

[Guest guest]

> Obviously this would only work if (a) child does not want to be

scared

> of dogs any more and ( you can find a very well-trained dog to

> " practice " on. You don't live that far away from me (I'm in

Tunbridge

> Wells) so if you would like to try it with Basil, I would not

mind!<<

Thank you for all this advice. However, I think you have really hit

the nail on the head with the point about the child not wanting to be

scared any more. doesn't seem to care that he's scared, just

" hates " dogs and wants absolutely nothing to do with them. I have

friends with dogs (my neighbour is one) that I have tried to get him

to be comfortable with but he just doesn't want to know and flatly

refuses to go anywhere near them.

Lorraine

Mum to 10, Natasha 8, 5, ph 3

[Guest guest]

> Obviously this would only work if (a) child does not want to be

scared

> of dogs any more and ( you can find a very well-trained dog to

> " practice " on. You don't live that far away from me (I'm in

Tunbridge

> Wells) so if you would like to try it with Basil, I would not

mind!<<

Thank you for all this advice. However, I think you have really hit

the nail on the head with the point about the child not wanting to be

scared any more. doesn't seem to care that he's scared, just

" hates " dogs and wants absolutely nothing to do with them. I have

friends with dogs (my neighbour is one) that I have tried to get him

to be comfortable with but he just doesn't want to know and flatly

refuses to go anywhere near them.

Lorraine

Mum to 10, Natasha 8, 5, ph 3

[Guest guest]

> Obviously this would only work if (a) child does not want to be

scared

> of dogs any more and ( you can find a very well-trained dog to

> " practice " on. You don't live that far away from me (I'm in

Tunbridge

> Wells) so if you would like to try it with Basil, I would not

mind!<<

Thank you for all this advice. However, I think you have really hit

the nail on the head with the point about the child not wanting to be

scared any more. doesn't seem to care that he's scared, just

" hates " dogs and wants absolutely nothing to do with them. I have

friends with dogs (my neighbour is one) that I have tried to get him

to be comfortable with but he just doesn't want to know and flatly

refuses to go anywhere near them.

Lorraine

Mum to 10, Natasha 8, 5, ph 3