Children scared of dogs

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planete

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In the last year I have been disturbed by the reaction of a great many of the children I meet on walks with the dogs. They are often so scared of the dogs they are not able to bear them anywhere nearer than twelve feet from them never mind stroke them even when invited to do so by their parents (this is rare) and myself. I used to try and reassure them but cannot be bothered to try any longer as the reactions are so extreme. My dogs are a small very fluffy mongrel and a 'I love everybody' whippet lurcher, so not 'scary' in any way. They do not jump up or throw themselves at people and have been on the lead every time this has happened. I fully agree about children being taught not to approach unknown dogs but can't children be taught appropriate behaviour without scaring them stupid? How can these children ever love animals? Have you experienced this as well? We are in a very touristy area, are these children from a town environment with no contact with animals perhaps? What are children being taught in schools and at home about animals? I am out of touch now as no small children in family.
 
This is one of my bug bears. I have lost count of the amount of times I have been out with the dogs to be met with a child screaming hysterically because of the dogs. Its not even as if the dogs are anywhere near them, my dogs are always at heel and not in the slightest bit interested in the kids. Surely the parents should teach them how to behave and that running round in circles screaming like a banshee is not a good way to act around strange dogs, I'm sure there are plenty of dogs that would find this behaviour great fun and would join in the game making the children even more scared.
 
That happens a lot round here and I always find it really sad. Being so frightened of something as common as dogs that just seeing one induces shrieking and sobbing can't be fun.

It drives me absolutely bonkers when parents of fearful children just pander to the fear by scooping them up and comforting them any time there's a dog in view. Or even worse the parents who seem to be actively encouraging their child to become fearful. The number of times I've heard parents say things like "Ooooh, don't go near those dogs, they'll bite you." whilst dragging child away.
 
I do hate this, and have experienced this when my dad's friend used to come over with his kids. As a muslim he doesn't like dogs (not saying all muslims don't) and so instilled fear, probably subconsciously into his daughters, who woudl shriek :( I think they did ventually get over it, and shriek less. I spoke to my friend the other day and apparently her girl (nearly 3) is scared of animals and screams when she sees even a cat, I can't help thinking this is the friends fault, and if she lived nearby I would be trying to educate her and her daughter (she lives in Ireland, so not really workable)

I had to stop another friends kids from approaching dogs at Bramham though, after meeting another friends dogs, they then uber confidently kept trying to pat everything, which most people and dogs were encouraging, but others we had to steer clear of - can tell by reaction of owner a few metres off if their dog/they want to see kids or not imho :)
 
I have a little old very friendly boarder terrier and when we are out walking or even down the garge she thinks everyone is there to make a fuss of her she dosnt run up to anyone just sits next to me wagging her tail stearing at the person and most people are terrified and wont come near her! very sad
 
My sisters kids were scared of dogs when they were younger. My sister grew up with them but she's gone from being a country girl to OMG there is DIRT :eek::eek: :rolleyes: Now theyre older they've realised that if they want to go and see granny they have to put up with the dogs. BiL is very allergic so I can understand them not having one but who cares about a little bit of dirt :confused:
 
As a kid I always wanted to pat dogs, my Gran (who had 2, one utterly delightful Shih Tzu and one fairly horrible yorkie who had been badly treated in the past) taught me that I must always ask before patting strange dogs. This led to me wandering over to the owners of massive GSDs, Labs, Danes, any dog at all with my hands behind my back, stopping a couple of yards off and requesting permission to pat their dog. At the time I was pretty young and most of the big dogs were bigger than me so it got a few raised eyebrows but generally they said yes and I got to stroke all sorts of dogs :D.
 
I find it ironic that a lot of parents who's kids are scared of dogs or who have projected their own fears onto their children, happily let said children act exactly like prey....therefore massively increasing their chances of getting bothered by dogs.
 
Agree with all the comments.

Sensible parents teach their children how to behave around dogs and to take precautions when it is prudent to do so.
Unless society becomes dog free, its a life skill that is as important as crossing the road or dialling 999.
 
Agreed, with the odd exception its nearly always the parents fault. I can understand a child who hasn't been around dogs being a bit apprehensive about a large dog & only wanting to stroke it when its sat down, but running away shrieking makes me want to slap the parents. I have an obedient friendly dobie x who is more often than not in the company of my 7 yr old. He would never approach a stranger but I have lost track of the times I have met parents who have no problems in spotting him at a distance & encouraging their off spring to run away screaming. I have also had arguments with people with ridiculous notions about my supposedly 'well known to be dangerous breed of dog'. The parents should be ashamed.
 
horserider said:
Agree with all the comments.

Sensible parents teach their children how to behave around dogs and to take precautions when it is prudent to do so.
Unless society becomes dog free, its a life skill that is as important as crossing the road or dialling 999.
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I agree too, but the people who don't teach their children how to behave around dogs are often afraid of them themselves . . . so it's all a bit of a catch 22. How does someone who is pretty clueless about something teach their children how to behave appropriately when confronted with it? Oh, and I know plenty of dog owners who also don't know how to behave when their dog meets other dogs . . . it's all a bit of a conundrum really . . . but I totally agree that it's a) annoying; b) counterproductive; and c) usually down to the parents when children behave inappropriately when confronted with a strange dog . . . squeaking, squealing, running and generally behaving like prey (or at the very least like a large, mobile squeaky toy) is only ever going to entice even the best behaved dog to either mooch over for an investigative sniff or chase. Sigh.

P
 
My Mum used to bring the police dog unit into the school to do demos, the whole works, blank firing pistols, the dogs would bring down 'criminals', kids were allowed to pet the dogs, the officers would give talks, told the kids how to behave around dogs, stand still, don't scream, would tell them that all their dogs were trained to chase a running man so they should never run.

Can't see any of that being allowed to happen these days :(
 
I have a friend whos parents moved here from India as adults but before she was born. Given the good chance of rabies, they weren't used to dogs as pets, but knew that running & screaming isn't the way to act with a possibly rabid dog. But they realised the uk is different so the fear is irrational & encouraged their kids to approach them. They did pass some fear onto her as she isn't mega confident round large or jumping up ones, but certainly isn't scared of them, let alone well behaved big dogs or even badly behaved small ones. Her own kids are as confident as any other child with them, going out of their way to say hello to any they meet. So with a bit of effort it can be done.
I think the problem is that a lot of these parents don't acknowledge their own fear as irrational so have no desire to prevent it in their kids. Plus a sense that the world should revolve around them, so if their kid is scared its up to dog owners to stay away rather than their responsibility to deal with it.
 
Last time this happened to me with my dog I turned it around and yelled "Arrghh get that child away from me, nasty thing shouldn't be allowed" or screeches to that effect. This led to very defensive parents shouting at me for upsetting their child...
I then told them to leave MY land by the quickest route (which was through a huge patch of nettles) and not to bring their brat anywhere near me as I can't stand out of control children.

I used to take dogs into schools - not allowed any more, even with PAT certified dogs.
 
Am I the only one who has also noticed that for everyone child who runs away screaming there is one child who will run TOWARDS a strange dog. I think both behaviours are awful. When my pooch was younger (and a lot cuter and fluffier) a kid ran up to him and started petting him quite hard and grabbing his ears while his parents stood there laughing. My dog has a very placid temperament but I dread to think what would have happened if they did it to another, less friendly dog.
 
Where are all these children scared of dogs? every one I meet runs up to my dog and attempts to pull her tail off or pick her up! Yes she is only a small jack russell, but she isn't that people-friendly (its a fear-based thing) and she really doesn't like children because they are unpredictable.
I will tell the parents that if their child touches my dog they will get bitten (exaggeration!) and they will still let their child do as they please! It drives me mad! Some of the children will run after her, trying to grab at her, as she tries to escape them. I would definitely like to meet some of these scared children :p
 
My youngest daughter, now 3, loves looking at animals but since she could walk has always been afraid of dogs and used to run away, she won't go near the horses either unlike her sisters so she obviously has an inbuilt fear of large animals. Gradually she has become calmer around them and will now stroke a quiet dog if invited to, funnily enough it was a pack of beagles at a county show that was the turning point!!

s4sugar said:
Last time this happened to me with my dog I turned it around and yelled "Arrghh get that child away from me, nasty thing shouldn't be allowed" or screeches to that effect. This led to very defensive parents shouting at me for upsetting their child...
I then told them to leave MY land by the quickest route (which was through a huge patch of nettles) and not to bring their brat anywhere near me as I can't stand out of control children.

I used to take dogs into schools - not allowed any more, even with PAT certified dogs.
Click to expand...

My 6 year old daughter's class recently did a half term's topic on pets and had a PAT dog come in every week for the class to groom, "train" etc.
 
Nope I agree with you heatherann! Barney being big most kids/adults avoid but a few kids have come up to him and practically hung off his ears :o luckily he yelps and takes himself away rather than reacting badly but kids should be taught how to act around dogs.
He does aparently chase a lady on a bike over the field who's terrified of dogs but he's a greyhound and she's riding a bike on a dog field do it's her own fault :rolleyes:
 
Try having a dog that basically looks like a long legged doberman with the ability to move at a speed not far off a lurcher & possibly faster over long distances than some through being very fit. And then watch the reaction of parents across a field despite the dog not even heading in their direction. Plus the horrified reaction of people standing by when you allow your own young child (who isn't stood anywhere near anyone else) to shout him across a field & the dog heads for a child at full speed. And I don't mean people taken by suprise, those who have quite clearly seen them together & heard her call.
S4sugar- brilliant response. I did once get into a heated debate with a parent who accused me of being irresponsible for allowing my own child near a breed supposedly well known for attacking children, let alone taking it out in public. She wasn't overly impressed when I suggested we could use the same logic to treat her husband as a potential sex offender. (not because I think for a minute he is, or that all men are, just to make a point as to how stupid a statement it was)
 
We've only met a few who show real fear, usually just stick to parents side if nervous of the dogs. One young girl was lucky to not get run over diving out of our way into road, although we were on verge roadside and had left the path free for her family to pass. Also had a boy try to scramble into the rabbit pen in pets at home to escape after spotting the dogs some way off, we gave them a wide berth when his mum alerted us to his distress. I do feel for them and that flight reaction puts the in more danger.

We meet way more confident kids who are at risk of getting bitten, thankfully my dogs are quite tolerant as you don't always get opportunity to avert the lil brats in time.

There was a lady on local news ages ago with i think a rottie that she took into schools to teach kids how to behave around dogs which seemed a very good idea.
 
I find it really sad when children are utterly terrified... And yes we come across a few in our local park.
I also find it slightly annoying (and blame the patents if the child is hysterical beyond fear)
I always make a point of having my dog by my side and make her sit, and ask child/parents if said child would like to say hello.
If yes, my lab is asked to lie down, and child can touch any bit they want. We're a small village, and dogs and children have to share the park on a daily basis, so I like to at least try and educate a little - it helps that my lab is used to my nieces & nephew who are 11, 5 & 2, and that she adores people, and their attention.
I do get the odd snooty parent, but hey ho, more fool
them
 
2Greys said:
Also had a boy try to scramble into the rabbit pen in pets at home to escape after spotting the dogs some way off, we gave them a wide berth when his mum alerted us to his distress. I do feel for them and that flight reaction puts the in more danger.
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I met a young girl who was absolutely terrified of dogs and her mum in Pets at Home once. The hysterical screaming started as soon as we entered. Unfortunately since they chose to go down every isle I needed to go down it became a very unpleasant trip out for all involved. Except maybe Jake who was focused on the dog treats and which ball he would be taking home :rolleyes:

I don't think her mum telling me I should take my dog elsewhere in the store was appropriate since they were right next to the dog section.

Why take dog fearful children into stores that allow dogs :confused:
 
Agree with all the above-it's quite debilitating and limiting to be scared of dogs-the world is full of them! I had noted it over the years when out&about with our dogs but it has been really highlighted to me since my daughters got old enough to have friends over for playdates-at least 90% have been frightened of our elderly,soppy GSPs and 25% of those 90% were terrified. My daughters 'showing' them how friendly our dogs were convinced them more than all my explanations/persuasion though. :-/ The remainder of the kids were overly keen,desperate to stroke them&play with them constantly-these were the ones who either had their own dogs, or didn't but were desperate to have one. Also,not sure about the no pets in school thing-at my daughters' school,they have 'bring your pet to school' week in reception(kids age 4,going on 5). Both times I have taken our dog GSP in and he became a dog idol:) Teachers adored him,kids all had a stroke(terrified ones,reluctantly so!) and I took a puppy photo in(here's his baby photo,see how little he was...) told them his favourite food,activity,place to be stroked/scratched etc. They all thought it hilarious he had a 'special' spot where you could scratch him & make his leg stamp on floor&queued up to do this;) They made him a thank you card for coming in,with a photo on front of him with the class,signed by them all:) Other people took dogs,guinea pigs,hamsters,fish etc in. Unfortunately couldn't get lorry near school(streets too narrow&lots of parked cars) to take pony in:( My own kids love dogs but are respectful & wary of ones they don't know. I do think it's a social handicap to be terrified of them-a housemate at Uni was&she planned her route to avoid dogs-I managed to bring her around a bit by sneaking my ESS in to live with us for a term:) (Sometimes I'd find them snuggled on the sofa,watching Neighbours;) )
 
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