scared of dogs!!!

[cabby]

morning everyone!!!

i have a 6 year old little girl coming to me during the summer holidays, perfect hours, in the same class as the other 6 year old i mind, so they will have each other to play with, seemed to good to be true........and it is:(

mum stopped me this morning because she forgot to tell me lo has a REALLY bad phobia of dogs:eek: as i have a dog this is going to be a bit of a problem, mum really wants lo to still come to me,



we have arranged for lo to come round for quite a few visits, and im going to walk the dog over to school in the afternoons so she can walk home with us, and the other 6 year old is going to talk to her about about the dog, im going to give her a photo of the dog and was thinking about writing a letter to her as if it was from daisy(the dog), just saying how shes looking forward to meeting her, what things she likes doing, how friendly she is..etc iyswim!

sorry just relised how long winded this is:blush: any other ideas would be very greatfully recieved.xx

[nannymcflea]

Could you keep the dog out of the rooms she will be in? I have 2 dogs and 2 kids that are not phobic but scared of them. I don't allow my dogs near my mindees, just in case that once in a lifetime chance happens with my back turned.

If your dog is used to be in the family hub during the day you are going to have to break her in very gently, I'd do that by her being in a different room to start, looking at her, seeing her being calm and not a threat then gradually ease the dog back into it's normal routine. (I let my dogs in to "hoover" the floor after dinner and the girls put their feet up out the way!)

I hope it goes ok, it's good to respect animals and to grow up with them so it could actually be a positive experience for her long term.

[cabby]

she is kept in the front room, and i work from the dining room and kitchen, i have a stair gate up seperating the 2 rooms because i would never leave the lo's in a room on their own with her!! mum said just knowing the dog was in the house would freak her out, i'l see how she gets on when she comes round, and might get mum to leave her her for a while, to see how she reacts when mum's not here, :)

[littletreasures]

I had a child who when he came round for a visit the first time spent most of his time on the top of my sofa for fear of the dog coming in. I explained to him that the dog was shut in the dining room and I wouldn't let him out. Mum and he made several visits to my house before I started to look after him after school.

I explained the next time to the boy that I was going to let the dog out, but the dog wouldn't bother him and would want his Mum to stroke him though and would then go outside. He sat on one sofa and Mum on the other so he could see what was going on.

We worked very hard, luckily the dog is used to kids and very laid back, can't really be bothered with the children. He would lie down flat out and not even look up when the boy eventually would walk past him.

In the space of a month he went from sitting on the back of the sofa to brushing the dog and watching tv whilst sitting next to him and stroking him!!!!!

Good luck

[cabby]

thankyou.x

im hoping this will be the case, ive had the same situation before with lo's being scared of dogs and its always been fine in the end, this one just seems to be petrified!! to the point where mum said she has run into the middle of a busy road because she saw a dog in its garden:eek:,

[flora]

one of mine is scared silly of dogs, no basis for this fear just is.

i let her come round load of times and gradually introduced her a little at a time.

i have thrree dogs all quite barky so i juts shut them away and only let them out one at a time .

she got over it, slowly, but can still have the odd fit at times.

i think the letter and photo etc sound nice :clapping:

[mushpea]

our labrador has full run of the house all day and the garden, he is not left in a room on his own with the mindees as no dog is perfect but i dont shut him away as he is part of the family, he actualy chooses not to sit in the living room when they are here probably cus theres not much floor space with 7 children + toys!!! he is also so laid back its ridiculour:laughing:
the mindee i used to have used to hide around the sofa if the dog so much as looked at him but he gradualy came out and ended up loving him and helping with feeding and grooming etc.