Serious help needed to help 6 year old child terrified of dogs

I used to have behavioural issues like this as a child and I can still remember exactly how they felt. I would melt in large get togethers if there were groups of people there and something would trigger it off. There was so much overwhelming feedback and the pressure of people telling you you 'ooh X is ok' 'there's nothing to worry don't be stressing about it' which magnified the situation a huge amount. then on some level there was also the attention you would get off your parents by having an extreme reaction that they would have to react to and comfort you about. I remember as a kid thinking it was easier to have a meltdown over this one X issue rather than having to deal with the stress of interacting with a load of separate people and not being equipped to. the meltdown simplified the focus of my stress so I could manage it, if that made sense. I would imagine a child isolated from people with lockdown would find this the same being reintroduced into groups again.

on top of that having a load of adults pressurising you either positively or negatively about a fear made it way worse and bigger, especially in a very contained environment.

as that kid I would have appreciated the dogs just being out of sight and not focused on while I was there.
 
just to add I think the parents did the wrong thing by removing the child. I would have been delighted as a kid to have had the power to make my parents remove me from a situation I found stressful and I would have repeated the behaviour as it got the result I wanted. Because I grew up in the 'kids are seen and not heard era' I was simply removed to another room, parked in a corner and allowed to read the book I had brought happily away from everyone and all interactions, so in a way my meltdowns did give me a the reaction I wanted in a way.

I have no idea the correct way to deal with that situation but definitely forcing a kid, a stressor and a load of adults into a room won't fix it.
 
The first thing that should have happened, imho, is that the dogs were shut away. My family and extended family have always had dogs. In any household with more than one dog, they would have been shut away, for their own safety, as much as anything - and who wants dogs around food that could easily be spilled, as it often is at parties?

I can't understand why anyone would want dogs to be present a a party - but equally I wouldn't put them in kennels for a few hours.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
The first thing that should have happened, imho, is that the dogs were shut away. My family and extended family have always had dogs. In any household with more than one dog, they would have been shut away, for their own safety, as much as anything - and who wants dogs around food that could easily be spilled, as it often is at parties?

I can't understand why anyone would want dogs to be present a a party - but equally I wouldn't put them in kennels for a few hours.
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Agree. Good, long walk and locked away somewhere quiet with a chewy.
 
scats said:
I developed my fear of Edward Scissorhands when I was about 7 (whenever it came out, I saw it at pictures) I am nearly 37 and still absolutely terrified of him. Definitely no logic in a lot of phobias!
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That's almost as good as my dad letting me watch Nightmare on Elm Street...wind turbines/pylons have never done anything bad to me (although I could blame The Tripods).
 
CorvusCorax said:
That's almost as good as my dad letting me watch Nightmare on Elm Street...wind turbines/pylons have never done anything bad to me (although I could blame The Tripods).
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Yet I watched Nightmare on Elm Street when I was very young and then insisted on dressing up as Freddie Krueger for Halloween every year til I was bout 10! For some reason, I though he was fantastic, knives and all...
Yet that scissor freak... a nice gentle character... I only had to look at him and the fear was crippling. It got so bad for about 15 years, someone had to check the TV guide before I would read it, incase there was a picture. If I hear it’s going to be on TV, I avoid that channel for weeks in advance, in case I catch an advert for it. I still feel an icy cold on the pit of my stomach if I see a picture of it. The brain is a weird, weird thing!
 
scats said:
Yet I watched Nightmare on Elm Street when I was very young and then insisted on dressing up as Freddie Krueger for Halloween every year til I was bout 10! For some reason, I though he was fantastic, knives and all...
Yet that scissor freak... a nice gentle character... I only had to look at him and the fear was crippling. It got so bad for about 15 years, someone had to check the TV guide before I would read it, incase there was a picture. If I hear it’s going to be on TV, I avoid that channel for weeks in advance, in case I catch an advert for it. I still feel an icy cold on the pit of my stomach if I see a picture of it. The brain is a weird, weird thing!
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I've heard Timothée Chalamet played Edward Scissorhands son in a Super Bowl advert.

**wants so much to add a picture**
 
Poor little soul.
As above I’d shut my dogs securely away and that’s where they would stay for the duration of a visit. Being terrified of something is no joke, especially not at that age when rational thinking can’t be expected.
I would be considering pro help, simply because a dog phobia could make life really difficult for him. We read everyday about people letting dogs run over and say hello.
 
There was an article on this on the BBC yesterday. It was about one of the dancers from Strictly who had been scared of dogs since a child. She thinks it was because a girl at school had lost a bit of her lip due to a dog bite. It showed her having therapy and eventually being introduced to a dog. Might be worth watching.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/strictlys-amy-dowden-tells-one-20533975
 
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scats said:
Yet I watched Nightmare on Elm Street when I was very young and then insisted on dressing up as Freddie Krueger for Halloween every year til I was bout 10! For some reason, I though he was fantastic, knives and all...
Yet that scissor freak... a nice gentle character... I only had to look at him and the fear was crippling.[...] The brain is a weird, weird thing!
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My daughter aged 5 thought the Jurassic Park films were the best thing ever, but Finding Nemo was terrifying...
 
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