Fear of animals

[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