Fear of animals

[Taz_Zoee]

I have a friend who is deathly afraid of dogs ...... well, ALL animals basically. When she was young she saw her mom get bit by a dog and it's stuck with her all her life.
I so want her to not be afraid of them. She is pregnant and her husband wants to get a dog when the baby arrives. So it can grow up with the baby and be there to protect them and the house. I was thrilled when she told me this, but she was NOT.
Does anyone have a fear like this? Or know of a way to help someone cope with this?
And I mean if she see's or hears a dog she would climb a tree, jump on a table or whatever she needed to do to get away from it!

[crow_noir]

My Grandmother on my mom's side is like that... most of her children learned the behavior from her.

My father had to take my mom by the hand and DRAG her over to his shepherd and make her stay there with the shepherd until she calmed down. This shep was one of the gentlest creatures alive mind you. (He end up being my nanny )

I'd say find a REALLY FRIENDLY, REALLY CALM, and REALLY CLEAN dog and get your friend to try to agree to meeting it. And assure her that she won't be alone.

I say have them take one thing at a time though and don't think about getting a dog until the kid is about three years old. Having a new baby AND a new dog could be a bit much to handle at one time. Especially for the mother as she's afraid of dogs. No need to stress her out while she's pregnant. Her husband should respect that.

I have a friend who is deathly afraid of dogs ...... well, ALL animals basically. When she was young she saw her mom get bit by a dog and it's stuck with her all her life.
I so want her to not be afraid of them. She is pregnant and her husband wants to get a dog when the baby arrives. So it can grow up with the baby and be there to protect them and the house. I was thrilled when she told me this, but she was NOT.
Does anyone have a fear like this? Or know of a way to help someone cope with this?
And I mean if she see's or hears a dog she would climb a tree, jump on a table or whatever she needed to do to get away from it!

[Karen]

Find someone with an older, very calm dog that can be trusted to sit still, and let her get used to being around it. A sweet old Golden, maybe, that will just look at her with those meltingly soft dark eyes. Or even a smaller dog, a snorty older pug ... do you know what kind of dog attacked her mom? If she can get used to being in the room with a dog, a little more each time, she needn't even interact with it at first.

My dear friend Robin was chased by a Doberman on her way home from school several times when she was a child, barely escaping twice when the dog broke its chain. She eventually got used to dogs, but was just petrified of Gracie, our big love of a black Great Dane. Gracie literally wouldn't hurt a fly, but when Rob came to my parent's house to help me address invitations once, we crossed a couple fishing poles in the kitchen doorway, so Gracie could still see us, but couldn't get into the room, otherwise Robin just couldn't sit. She knew it was silly, but that's just how she felt!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Gracie, our big love of a black Great Dane...we crossed a couple fishing poles in the kitchen doorway, so Gracie could still see us, but couldn't get into the room

I love that she "couldn't" get into the room

I agree the the first step is to get her to agree to meet with a dog. Like Karen said- start with a sweet, calm dog. I'd suggest a smaller dog, it would probably be a little less intimidating. Then you can move up to a larger dog. Something cute and fluffy, like a pomeranian, may be a good place to start.

I also agree that they shouldn't try to rush to get a dog before the baby is born. The baby won't have any memory of growing up with a dog until it's a little older anyway.

[Pam]

I say have them take one thing at a time though and don't think about getting a dog until the kid is about three years old. Having a new baby AND a new dog could be a bit much to handle at one time.

I agree with this completely. A new dog (especially a puppy) is like a child. To bring a dog into the home with a new baby is like suddenly having two babies. To an experienced dog owner it would be less of a problem but not to a first time dog owner. I am also concerned that the husband is looking for a dog to be a "protective" dog. That wouldn't be the type of dog I'd bring in with his wife being afraid of dogs to begin with. Any dog can be a sort of "guard dog," even the little ones who think that their bark is actually scaring people away. LOL! A friendly, laid back dog will still bark to alert you of strangers approaching without actually being protective.

Karen I am laughing at your fishing rod story. Robyn's first swissie, Dale, would have not crossed that line either. In fact silly Dale used to be afraid of empty milk gallons (the plastic kinds) and she has no idea why. If she placed a milk carton in that doorway Dale would have stayed in the kitchen too.

[sweetpatata6]

I'd say find a REALLY FRIENDLY, REALLY CALM, and REALLY CLEAN dog and get your friend to try to agree to meeting it. And assure her that she won't be alone.

I agree...When I was little we had a german sheperd/ Rotwiler/ Ridge back/ Huskey ((yes, I know I spelt some wrong)) mix who was the sweetest thing. She was very protective of me. If my parents were walking me and someone would come up, she would calmly get inbetween the stroller and the person, or who ever was holding me and the person, and watch the person. And introducing me to her when I was first born was easy. After I had worn some clothes for the first few days, my parents then gave our dog my clothes to smell, so by the time I was introduced to her ((like 3 days later)) she was completely fine with me and loved to be around me.

[Taz_Zoee]

Thanks for the responses. I have talked to her about facing her fear. But it's soooo HUGE, she is even afraid of cats, birds...anything!! A co-worker brought in her sick cockatiel to work one day and had it sitting on her shoulder, when the other girl realized it was there she ran back to her office.
I had also suggested a smaller dog as a first dog for her. But she said her husband wants like a lab or something. I can talk to her about that. And I too agree having a puppy with a first baby is a BIG mistake. Especially with her fear. I think her husband is going to have to some serious convincing to even get her around a dog period.
Last year they went on vacation to Paris and England. She said dogs are much nicer over there. I cracked up when she told me that......ok, whatever!! I have no idea why she trusted the dogs over there, but not here.
I'm going to have to work on her to see if I can introduce her to a dog. I've asked her before about meeting Zoee. I thought since she was MY dog and I would be there, I wouldn't let Zoee hurt her and Zoee has never and would never hurt anyone or anything.
Her fear is so great that she will burst out in tears and shake violently. I know the only way to overcome that is to face it, but that will be the hard part.
I will do whatever I can to help her. Thank you all for the suggestions and I will definitely take them into consideration.

[Hellow]

LOL i agree with karen about the snorty old pug part, once pugs turn 8 they just sit around and gain weight.

[IRescue452]

A lab would jump all over her and scare her more, not to mention the baby, unless it was a really old lab. Do speak to the husband about starting with a sensible choice instead of jumping on the first dog he sees. It sounds like he needs to stop and think that there will be a baby needing lots of attention along with the fear of dogs from the wife.

The first thing they should do before anything is go visit dogs. Visit a shelter where the dogs are behind bars. Talk to them about her situation and as she's ready they can bring out a very friendly, calm dog for her to pet and interact with.

[Muddy4paws]

I have a fear of cats because of a similar reason, Why not opt for an older dog thats used to a family life, maybe a old cav? They are very laid back dogs I find they are also quite laid back puppys too.

[sweetpatata6]

I have a fear of cats because of a similar reason, Why not opt for an older dog thats used to a family life, maybe a old cav? They are very laid back dogs I find they are also quite laid back puppys too.

Oreo has achually "cured" one of my friend's fear of cats... She even held him for like an hour !! lol

[Muddy4paws]

lol I got no problem holding them! I love cuddles with cats that are friendly.. lol Normally the cats I get to see are at work and they dont like being groomed which is why the owners send them to us! I often get scratched and bitten and It scares me.. lol Im bitten by dogs but that doesnt bother me at all. lol Its weird!

[Taz_Zoee]

Yeah, as far as them getting a dog...I'm sure she will be fighting and argueing with hubby to postpone that one as long as possible. And I would hope she'd come to me if they do ever decide to go ahead with it, because she knows my obsession with animals. I will definitely try to discourage them from a large breed, for sure!
I don't want to even bring up the subject with her right now with her pregnancy and all. So I will just sit back and see what develops. And hope there might be a chance of getting her around some animals so she can see they are not ALL bad.
Oh, to answer someone's question from earlier.....I am not sure what kind of dog it was that bit her mom. All she said was BIG! lol