afraid of wolves!

[sansouci]

Help. dd obsessed with wolves, thinks they're everywhere. She's 4.5 and was probably traumatised by seeing Beauty and the Beast too soon. Told her we were going to Canada next summer. Are there wolves in Canada? she asks. Yes, I reply (want to be honest), but not anywhere near where we're going to be. I'm not going, she says. Need to educate her on wolves. Any simple websites with pictures of "friendly" wolves to recommend? Thanks!

[lavenderr]

could you ask her why she is afraid of them? does she think they'll come running out in the dark and bite her?
Think it's very normal to be afraid of big hairy things (was terrified of dogs at that age and still am). The website thing is a good idea, get loads of pics of them and maybe even print one out on and let her put it on her bedroom wall, when she has read that they are just wild dogs...sorry not very good advice but often seeing them behaving not red eyed and nasty might help her...hope someone can be more help here...

[doggiewalker]

Try showing her this, hope it helps

[phatcat]

I wonder if The Gruffalo and Where The Wild Things Are stories might help also - the idea being to suggest that being smarter than the 'monster' makes it less scary.

[HunkerMunker]

Aren't there wolves in The Jungle Book who are friendly?

[miggy]

cant really help except to say that ds1 was the same. Biggest problem was when he brought "red riding hood" home as a school book and I had to explain to his teacher that we couldnt actually open the book, let alone read it
He grew out of it fairly quickly though, trips to zoo helped so he could see they were a lot smaller than he thought.

[jampots]

sansouci - if you;re close by to Devon (Ilfracombe) at their Dinosaur & Wildlife Park you can adopt a wolf for £10 per year and you actually get to go into the enclosure with them. DD did it last year when we were on holiday and we have a picci of her with them. If you want to CAT me I'll send the piccie of her stroking her wolf to you just so your dd can see its ok

[pixiefish]

OMG. saw this and remembered the wolves that used to live under my bed when I was a little girl. I was petrified of them. Mum used to take us round the house before bed checking for them and for any ghosts that may have been lurking in the cupboards. I was ok so long as my dad was in the house cos my big brave dad wouldn't let anything bad happen to me

[RTKangaMummy]

I lived there for 3 years and never saw a wolf

[jampots]

password Jampot

[sansouci]

Hello jampots. No, we live in Switzerland, although dh is from Somerset. I would love to have the picture you mentioned, tho'. What is CAT, by the way?

Thanks for the website, doggiewalker. I was having trouble finding one.

Hi phatcat. I love The Gruffalo especially & we have both books but dd is scared of them. At least for the time being...

Hi trefusis. The map idea is great as dd received the LeapFrog junior exploring globe for xmas. However, she doesn't quite grasp actual locations in relation to the map yet.

Thank you, all. She'll no doubt grow out of it but she seems pretty fixated at the moment. For me it was monsters and ghosts, then vampires when I was about 11 (some Freudian thing, I expect!).

[whymummy]

will this be any good?
have a look at this

[whymummy]

aaaaargh didn't work
is here www.earlham.freeserve.co.uk/goodwolf.htm

[NotQuiteCockney]

There's an excellent (Canadian!) book about a girl living with wolves, called Julie and the Wolves. Probably a bit old for her.

And I spent my first 26 years in Canada, never saw or heard a wild wolf. They're pretty rare, to put it mildly.

[sansouci]

NQC, where did you live in Canada? I was born in Vancouver & have spent many summers in the interior of B.C. and never once saw or heard a wolf! Bears are a bigger menace. Anyway, dd IS going to Canada because my family live there & that's all there is to it! I know she'll be reassured once we get there but we will undoubtedly be going into the less inhabited parts of the province. Maybe my Dad will be able to sort her out, although I have visions of tears & hysterical refusals to leave the car already!

[sansouci]

Thanks, whymummy! Looks v. promising. I'll order it for her asap.

[NotQuiteCockney]

I grew up in Toronto and spent years in Montreal. I've been to Vancouver once - too far away! It's cheaper to come to London!

[DaddyCool]

always heard wolves, never saw them (central ontario).

You want to say "never mind the wolves, it's those bears that'll get yah!".. just kidding.

The wolves are in very remote areas. You could let her stroke/meet a husky while she's over there. They are very similar to wolves and very friendly. It might change her view.

[sansouci]

Hi again, DC! (wrote to you earlier on "bed/snoring" thread). Actually, dd likes huskies. I must admit that I'm also a little bit wary of wolves & dogs & bears & things with claws & teeth (yes, even cats!) so have trouble finding the right reassuring words for dd. The best I can do is "wolves stay away from people" which I THINK is true...

[Willow2]

Jampot - I can't believe you got to cuddle a wolf. Am so jealous