How can I get my son used to dogs?

[southcoaster]

We have deiced to get a dog next year for DS's 2nd birthday. So far he is fascinated by dogs but gets scared and cries when they get to close and in his face. I'd love him to get a bit more used to it before we get an actual dog, unfortunately we don't have friends close by with one.

Where can I go to get my son used to dogs????

I can't help you DC. My DD2 is 11 tomorrow and still gives big 'crazy' dogs a very wide berth!
She says if they are calm and 'strokey', they're ok.

If I got a dog, she would move out.

If you live in London, maybe take him to Battersea Dogs home?

I wouldn't recommend a dogs home - they tend to be full of dogs which get very excited (understandably) at new people and they jump up and down in their kennels.

You need access to a well trained calm dog which will allow your ds to approach it safely - easier said than done. Police dogs at county shows etc are the only ones which spring to mind - definitely not the ones on crowd patrol!

I would, however, ask you to think about whether getting a dog for your ds's 2nd birthday is a good idea. Firstly, you will need to constantly supervise them when together and to be perfectly honest a bouncy new dog or puppy could put him off dogs for life. Better in my view to wait until ds is older and actually wants a dog, rather than impose one on him because you think it will make him like them.

Phone Pets As Therapy. Their dogs visit hospitals, schools, children's homes etc and are all calm and temperament assessed. I'm sure they could recommend some dogs in your area.
I don't have a number - but I'm sure they have a website.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

bella29 I take your point. It's not that I want to impose one on him and we will think this through properly before going ahead with it.

Unfortunately we're in a rural area so not many dog shows etc around but I'll give Pets as Therapy a try.

If you are after a particular breed, why not contact the local breed group or a breeder? For my pedigree pup I went to the local club and met lots of the adult dogs, it gave me a good chance to find out more about the breed and get to know them, we also met mum and puppies several times before we brought the puppy home. If you are after a rescue dog (although many won't home a dog to a family with young children)I'm sure they will have some rescue dogs you could meet, I did some volunteer dog walking at our local rescue centre when my dd was 2 and they only gave us calm dogs to take out.

two issues here.

Firstly, why do you want to buy a dog as a birthday present for a child who doesn't like dogs?

Tbh if you're planning to get a dog then it shouldn't be as a present as it will be a family dog and certainly not the property of a 2 year old who will have no idea of the responsibilities that owning a dog involves.

Secondly, your ds is still young. he may be afraid of dogs atm because on the whole, they're bigger than him. The less you feed this fear, the more likely he will get used to dogs and become less afraid of them. So if you see a dog on a lead say "oh isn't that a lovely doggy" and walk on by, eventually he will not display the fear of the dog because he will associate the dog on lead as a lovely dog. Once you get past this see if you can get him to stroke a dog that appears to be nice-natured, obviously ask the owner first, and as time goes on his fear will become less.

I have a guide dog and he is excellent for helping children overcome their fears. I go into class once a week and there is one child who was afraid of dogs when I started to go in, who now actively wants to sit next to my dog.

wanneBe sorry it probably came across the wrong way - when I said for his birthday it wasn't actually his birthday present, that was more the time scale we are looking at. Of course it will be a family dog and not his dog.

I am also not forcing a dog onto him - my sole aim is to find opportunities where my son can meet a few nice dogs. We go to the farm zoo every week and he sees sheeps, ducks, rabbits etc and is now happy to stroke them, but unfortunately there are no dogs there. We also see the neighbours cat occasionally and he now loves it.

We won't be looking at a rescue dog but a pedigree pup, probably a Labrador or a Golden Retriever but we'll be doing all the necessary research before. I really don't want us to come across as totally irresponsible parents here - we are thinking this through and will not go ahead with it if we think it isn't the right time or the right dog. But really I was just wondering where we can 'meet' dogs on a regular basis iyswim (irrespective of if we get one next year or not).

i read this as how do i get my son to use drugs!

anyway.

my ds sounds a bit similar to your littlie.

he loved dogs in theory..really loved them and all animals .however he was properly scared of them aswell,when faced with them running around,walking past him or whaever...shook and cried etc.

he was born with the love and the fear!

over time he has got better...and now that he is five will seek out dog owners to ask if he can stroke them...teh dogs that is

although i stroked and fussed over every dog we saw,talked about dogs and gave ds tips like hold your hand out etc, im not sure how much it did to shift how he felt tbh.

my own experience suggests to me that this is something he grew out of.

My 21mo ds2 is very like you describe your ds. We bought a puppy 3 weeks ago and he was very unsure about her - kept wanting to be picked up, cried when she came near him, etc. Now she's been around a bit longer he is becoming much more confident and pats her, strokes her and plays with her ball with her.

He doesn;t like it when she jumps right in his face but that's understandable and we're teaching him to say 'down' so he doesn't feel completely out of control. I also watch them like a hawk when they're together so I can stop her from jumping.

Ds1 who is 4.9 was also a bit afraid of dogs and it's made a big difference to him too.

So for us, getting our own dog has sorted the fear issues really well.

P.S, ours is a black Lab and the breeder recommended a female as they are more subservient and won;t challenge their place in the pecking order as much as a male would.

Discussed this with DH today and we'll be visiting a few dog shows in the next weeks so we can see a few and also talk to breeders.