It's no secret that our kids are a little skiddish around dogs. Mary is better off around them and as long as they lay still, she's happy to move about around them. William, on the other hand, freezes if there is a dog in sight. This morning, Doug opened our garage door and was walking the kids out to the (borrowed) car in our driveway. I heard blood-curdling screams from outside so I dashed to the garage to see what had happened.
A dog had darted from a neighbor's house, two doors down, and ran at them barking. According to Doug, this dog was small enough to throw 60 yards (he's a dog person, really!) and even Mary agrees that the dog was smaller than Robert. Yet, the fear and panic set in and they went running (and screaming). It doesn't matter the size of the dog or how friendly he's being, they have a natural fear. I remember when Mary was less than 2 years old and she finally verbalized what scared her about dogs. "Doggie bite." I don't know where she got that idea, but she certainly passed it along to William. Of course, some dogs do bite, but a majority are perfectly safe. A tough concept for a 2 and 3 year old to grasp.
I thought we'd made progress for a while, after visiting a pet store and watching through the glass crates for a few times, then Mommy would hold the dogs and even William would pat them. My goal was to start little and then visit big dogs. But, as luck would have it, they gave me a very squirmy tiny dog and he wriggled right out of my hands and fell to the floor (3-4 feet). He yelped and I passed him back to the store operator. They checked him out and reported that he was fine, but I felt so bad that we never went back.
The kids speak very fondly of our friends' dogs. Walter and Finnegan seem to be the most memorable and the most talked about. But face to face, dogs cause great anxiety for them. I hope that "yippie" as I've been calling this morning's darting, barking, fluff will not set them back further in their appreciation for dogs.
9 comments:
Oh, I didn't know that they are scared of dogs. have either of them ever had a bad experience with a dog?
You guys are all more than welcome to come over and "play" with Dali if you ever want to introduce them to a friendly dog again. The most he'll do is lick their skin off!
No, they've never had a bad experience with a dog. I don't know why they are scared, except that Mary instinctually knew that dogs bite. I have no idea where she learned that.
Sometimes when dogs have licked them they think it's really funny. "The doggie slicked my leg!" But, for some reason they have that lingering fear in the back of their minds. I'm sure William learned it from Mary.
Now, Mary had Liberty as a little baby, but I know nothing happened between them. Liberty may have "hugged" her a little too hard with her face, but Mary never even cried then.
Does anyone know of a dog movie that shows a real dog (not cartoon) helping people? Like Lassie? I'm thinking that they simply don't have any reason to trust a dog, so maybe we'll get past it by seeing some live-action helpful dogs and then visiting the playful dogs we know.
How about: Beethoven
I used to love that movie when I was a kid.
Thanks. I'll have to netflix it to preview...I saw it when it came out, but can't remember it now.
Well, lets see... There is Milo and Otis, the Air Bud movies and Homeward Bound.
Emily named some good ones! I have no real advice considering Madison is scared of my mom's 5 pound dog.
If you need to borrow Sadie, you're always welcome... she's a bundle of energy (so can be a little intimidating) but small and very friendly, so maybe a good one for them to meet when they're a little more comfortable... a good example of an excited dog that won't hurt them.
The last few times they've been over, both Mary and William have done very well with Walter and Finnegan. Of course, they were on their leashes (W & F...not M & W!)so Mary and William retained the control and decided when to go near and pet them. Mary was a bit more confident than William, but I think that's to be expected because she is a little older. I thought they were making great progress.
I know the neighbor's dog didn't help matters. He's come into our yard, too, and even tried to run in through the door once when we opened it to go outside! Suffice to say, Walter and Finney were not happy about an uninvited intruder in their territory (they "warned" us by barking and whining for about a half an hour after the incident!). I wish they would keep him on a leash or inside. Even though he's small, it can be quite jarring to have a dog running toward you, yipping and yapping. I have to say that I can certainly see why Mary and William were so startled.
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