Toddler petrified of dogs - help!

[WashIrving22]

About a week ago my 2 year old boy was chased by a dog in our local park. Don't think the dog actually meant him any harm, but my son was scared witless. And I didn't help much as I was totally freaked out, especially as it was one of those bull terriers (or something similar, I'm no expert on dogs), and ran to scoop him up shouting at the owner to get his dog away, so he would have sensed my panic and fear too.

So now my boy is absolutely petrified of any dog and throws himself into my arms shaking with fear whenever we see a dog, even if it's miles away.

We don't have a garden and spend the vast majority of our time in one or other of our local parks, where there are always an awful lot of perfectly lovely dogs out for walks, so this fear is going to be a bit of a problem.

Has anyone got any thoughts about how I can help him get over it? Is it likely to recede naturally? I've tried talking to him and explaining that most dogs are perfectly nice, but he doesn't seem to be buying it...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Any chance you could introduce him to some (very small, but not helpless - 5/6 weeks plus) puppies? Do your local dog rescue place maybe run a dog-fear class? (I don't know if any do, just seems a good idea that they might!)

Maybe lots of picture books to start with showing dogs. Talk about how nice the dogs are , how friendly etc and get him to develop a positive attitude towards dogs. Then move on to talking about soft toy dogs, tv character dogs, etc before moving on to the real thing , preferably in puppy form.

OP, you could repost on the pets forum for more advice.

My dd was very scared of dogs - not due to any incident though. She used to leap into my arms at the sight of one. She's now 5 and is much better. She's still not a huge fan, but will walk past dogs quite calmly. I'm no expert but I would say keep up the positive view of dogs and give it time....

I would do as Runoutofideas says. Talk calmly about dogs. If you see a dog in the park, look at it carefully, tell your DS about it, and whether it is on a leash. If he wants to be in your arms, let him.

My DS2 got knocked down (and licked) by a dog or two at age 2 or 3, and was petrified of dogs. (I like dogs, and am v relaxed about them, fwiw.)

For about two years, I would pick him up if there was an off-leash dog around, taking an interest.

And then, suddenly, this spring, he decided he wanted to befriend dogs, and has been fine.

As a dog owner there are plenty of badly behaved dogs around and its no surprise kiddies get nervous (my children were the same pre-our dog). best advice is to find someone with a really well behaved dog that isn't over friendly and will let him make friends on his own terms. also a dog that stops doing something when asked will help him overcome his fear.

I second finding someone with a calm friendly dog. I don't know how much good puppies would be as they tend to be quite excited and also bite quite a bit too. I have a PAT dog which means she has been temprement assessed for hospital or residential home visits and we used her to get my DH cousin's son over his fear of dogs. It may be worthwhile contacting Pets As Therapy to see if they can help or there's also Therapet who do a similar thing.

My Dd(6) is scared of dogs. If we are ever in town etc. and see a guide dog I always ask if they would mind allowing her to stroke it as I know I can 100% reassure her that it won't move towards her, which is what really scares her. She is getting much better since I've been doing this.

Thanks all - will try and find a friendly dog somehow, though thinking about it, I don't know a single person who owns a dog! Maybe I could ask about at one of our playgroups to see if anyone owns a nice calm obedient dog I could introduce my son to.

And keep up the positive dog chatter whilst he clings to me like a limpet in the park (which is fine but slightly tricky when i'm also holding the 5mo!)