Dog scared of children

[Puppypuppypuppy]

My two year old dog has developed a fear of children running and making noises. This was after an incident where a group of five or six noisy kids came running towards him unexpectedly and frightened him. When he sees children now doing normal kid things (eg running down the road) or hears them playing noisily in a garden nearby he gets really spooked, tail down and wants to get away as quickly as possible.

I am not sure how best to start to desensitise him to this. Obviously I wouldn't want to do anything that ramps up his worries but it's very limiting as I have to avoid anywhere with children really at the moment. Wondering if anyone has any ideas. He's a small dog and not at all aggressive - and I don't want to push his fear into an aggressive response.

With children involved, I would really recommend you get the help of a qualified behaviourist. Have look at the APDT and see if there's anyone near who who can come and give you a hand in-person.

While you'll get lots of well-meaning advice, fear can really easily tip into aggression (not because your dog is bad, but because he's scared) and it's really something that should tackled in person by a professional who can see your dog and your reactions.

Best of luck

To start with and putting no children at risk at all is with the children he hears playing in another garden.

I would start DMT. Which bascially means when he hears a sound say word in a calm voice and recognise the noise and treat.

It does not matter what he is doing so he could be barking etc just say your work a nice calm work that is not used at any other time. Eg nice, calm, I hear etc and immediately treat.

Soon he will hear the noise and turn to you for the treat. The noise instead of making him fearful will mean treats are coming.

If he can not eat the treats he is too close to the noise so take him inside and hear the noise from the house.

The more you do this (and I do realise it is quite time consuming to start with) the quicker his improvement will be.

My dog has this fear as she was abused by children when a stray (she is a rescue). She got a bit better after a few years and could walk past children without any trouble but lately has got fearful again (possibly because she is now a senior dog). It is mostly, as in your dog's case, when the children are calling to each other, making a bit of noise and running close by. She starts to shake and will growl if they come too near (or if they run past the windows of my flat or she hears them outside). I have her on a lead if any children are in sight and give them a wide berth. There really isn't any likelihood in her case that any training will help as she obviously had multiple horrible incidents in her past, not just one, and I just have to adapt to it to make her feel safe and happy. In your dog's case,with just one scary incident with children, I think you have more of a chance to get her over it and ok with children with the help of an appropriate behaviourist. It needs to be done slowly and carefully though and I don't think I would ever leave the dog alone with children even if behavioural training seems to have worked.