smiling politely`s poll Show results | Hide results

KR (697.3 days ago)
we dont have a dog. My son has always loved them though. He found them funny from a small age. Now he loves them and always trys to hug them, give orders, or play with them. My daughter has never been close to any dog and she is also comfy when they are around. Never scared. Shes 1

MunchieAndScrunchie (697.3 days ago)
My DD absolutely LOVES all animals. We have 2 dogs and 3 cats and 5 horses. Never showed any fear towards any of them. I introduced her to my old horse when she was about 4 months (shes almost 7 months now). He is quite a big gentle guy and he stuck his nose in her car seat and smelled her all over she just smiled at him. Now when Im doing farm chores I sit her outside the paddocks and she screams and laughs at them with her little feet kicking. I agree that most likely your friend is encouraging her daughters behavior...

domsmom2009 (697.4 days ago)
We had a dog (put him to sleep in jan.) and my son LOVES dogs (small ones). the big ones he`s no a big fan of.

charliebaby (697.5 days ago)
I have 2 dogs and my son absolutely adores the little one (the big one is 40+kg so I don`t let him have much contact with him, not cos he`s aggressive but he`s so damn powerful) but I have friends who don`t have dogs and their children are either petrified of my dogs or obsessed with them. One girl who`s 11 now used to be so obsessed with my little dog that her parents went and bought her this DS game where you have a virtual pet dog. That made me sad, if your child enjoys dogs that much, wouldn`t it be better to just get a little family pet? None of the family has any allergies and have a perfectly fine home to have a little dog, I think it teaches children respect for animals that no computer game can replicate. I also have a friend who has a dog and her daughter is absolutely petrified of all dogs, including her own. Their dog is a Blue Heeler and a bit grumpy so perhaps she`s had a bad experience that has stuck with her. I think it has something to do with being conditioned to having dogs, but also how much fear children have. Some are fearless and some are scared of everything...

smiling politely (697.5 days ago)
i have two rhodesian ridgebacks, which are a large breed, and neither of my children have ever shown the slightest fear of dogs. we had friends over this week, and when my (extremely gentle) boy dog walked over to meet the daughter of my friend, she panicked and started screaming. the mother rushed over and picked her up and began to rock her and talk soothingly-in a slightly panicky voice. i put the dog out, but it made me wonder, since i know this family has never had a dog, is it lack of contact which can make children fearful of dogs, or are some children just scared. the mother told me she had never been bitten,she just always was frightened. i worry too, that the mothers reaction reinforced her fear, since the dog did nothing except walk in her direction, but she reacted as if her daughter had been bitten. perhaps the mother is scared of dogs,and this has been passed along?



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