6 year old terrified of dogs which is causing huge issues

[MeakTiger]

My six year old is terrified of dogs. If she sees one off a lead she will burst into tears and fling herself at me trying to climb up me. She isn’t prone to dramatics and is generally very mature and sensible.

Both sets of grandparents have dogs, both her aunts have dogs. She freaks out and asks they are shut away or just refuses to go in their houses.

We can no longer go to the park and going out to the woods or just walking is becoming a real issue.

She has never been attacked or seen anyone else be attacked although my in-laws dog does jump up and bark.

Ironically I have been attacked while out running three times in the last three years but didn’t even tell her about the most recent time; the only one she may remember was the first one but that was three years ago and she hasn’t mentioned it (she may remember as police were involved due to multiple report from different people; I had phoned 101 because it was very aggressive with an even more aggressive owner).

In the woods I’ve tried to stop to talk with owners to show her most dogs are lovely but she literally has a meltdown. Some have offered for her to pet their dogs but she refuses (I’ve ended up petting a lot of dogs recently).

How can I get her out of this phobia?

I should add I’m not a dog lover myself. I have obviously been attacked and get fed up with the disgusting mess; either poo on pavements and paths or just as bad dog poo bags hung on trees. But I did grow up with them, totally understand the bond between dogs and owners and respect they are a much loved part of our society. I just don’t want to get one under any circumstances so that’s not a solution.

I just want to be able to go out without her having dramatics.

Not helped that a few weeks ago we were sitting on a bench having lunch and a dog bounded over, she ran off and it stole the sandwich left on the bench. The owner just laughed and said he was cheeky...

Following, we are in same situation, and can't even visit relatives houses who have dogs

There are some dog training groups who run special classes for helping children overcome their phobia of dogs, apparently they are generally very successful.

The only ones I know of at the moment are all in the south of England. Essex Dog Training Centre (their FB page has more information and photos from classes on) started the first one and there's now also Kent Cynophobia and From Fear to Friend which is based in Surrey/Sussex.

Teach her some basics about reading dogs' moods.
(I was scared of dogs until I was in my 40's BTW)
Making eye contact with a dog is an invitation for it to come and say hello.
My aunt taught me that if you don't look at it, it won't look at you, and it works. When you are very scared, you look at the dog, so it comes over! Running away from a dog invites it to chase you.
Running towards a dog often will encourage it to turn tail and run away (well, it did with mine!)
Tail up and not moving means angry. Tail down and wagging means friendly and happy.
Big dogs are usually great big softies.They can of course be very bouncy when they are young or untrained. It's the little ones that are more defensive and nippy as everyone else is so much bigger than them.
Most dogs only approach to say hello, to see if anyone wants to play, or to get ears rubbed. Or to see if you have any food for them. A dog lick is a compliment, I like to think of it as a kiss.
I used to have a big soft dog, and I would be amused by small dog owners scooping up their little ones in terror when they saw mine. (In case mine was going to eat theirs or something) She would never bother with the little dogs, would just walk past, but the little dogs would be snapping and snarling as soon as they saw mine who was just mooching along minding her own business.
I hope your DD can get so that she is less afraid. The not looking at them thing worked really well for me.

Watching lots of doggy films has been suggested on here before. Let her see ddogs in a more positive light. Maybe do a doggy adoption that gives you updates without contact?
My dd was similar as a toddler.
We bought a puppy!! Soon cured her.
But drastic I appreciate but it worked.

I was that child. I passed on the fear to my dd to the point that she ran onto the road one day to avoid a dog - very lucky that no cars were coming as it was just before a bend. Anyway that was the moment Dh said I had to do something. A local lady was running a class as Myranium suggested. I went along with 3 other adults. We were all pinned to the wall when she brought a dog near us. But within a few classes we were walking dogs around the yard on leads. I am still not 100% confident but I'm so much better than I was. I'm fine with dogs that I know but would be a little wary if I met one on the road for instance, I don't break out into a sweat at the sight of a dog now. I can walk on the beach without freaking out if a dog arrives. Please please ring around local dog trainers/dog owner trainers and ask if they would be offering courses to help people with fear of dogs. Hopefully someone will help.