Fear of dogs

willie joe

Hi Guys,
I'm looking for a bit of advice again. My 12 yr old son, myself and our pet dog had an altercation with a couple of large dogs a couple of months back (separate thread Rottweiler attack). Since then my son is traumatised at the thought of walking past this house or even any medium to large dog. I'm worried that this could really effect his confidence. He won't hang out at one of his mates houses because of their pet(boxer). Do I give him more time to try and get over this fear himself with my help or do you think I should look for professional guidance. Maybe I'm just jumping the gun. What do you guys think?
Many thanks in advance.

Snakeblood

willie joe wrote: »

Hi Guys,
I'm looking for a bit of advice again. My 12 yr old son, myself and our pet dog had an altercation with a couple of large dogs a couple of months back (separate thread Rottweiler attack). Since then my son is traumatised at the thought of walking past this house or even any medium to large dog. I'm worried that this could really effect his confidence. He won't hang out at one of his mates houses because of their pet(boxer). Do I give him more time to try and get over this fear himself with my help or do you think I should look for professional guidance. Maybe I'm just jumping the gun. What do you guys think?
Many thanks in advance.

I'd give it a little longer then go professional. Sucks to be afraid of things.

FatherLen

put him in an enclosed dark space with a dog for a few hours.

MagicSean

Introduce him to small tame dogs and work your way up in size. You can take a lend of my Rottweiler if you want.

starbelgrade

Tell him to man the fuck up & stop being such a pussy.

Pherekydes

Avoid the house with the big dog.

Bring him to a trainer who'll show him how to act in front of aggressive dogs.

The second part's the part my parents never did for me...

seamus

Go to a local animal rescue and explain it to them and ask to take one of the dogs for a walk (they usually let you). You can work from just looking at the dogs behind the cages, to taking a smaller dog for a walk and working up to taking larger dogs (though you'd probably have to do it).
If you explain to the staff that you need to walk a more relaxed dog, they'll know which one to give you.

He won't get over it in his own time. He'll consistently avoid dogs and when he hits his twenties his mates will laugh at him for being a big girl's blouse and acting all scared whenever he sees a dog.

stovelid

starbelgrade wrote: »

Tell him to man the fuck up & stop being such a pussy.

Don't hound the poor guy.

An experience like that Rex a kid's confidence.

Turtyturd

Tell him there is a monster in his closet/under the bed and one night it is going to eat him...dogs won't seem so bad then.

cosmicfart

its good he is afraid of dogs early in life that way he will never come home with a minger only hot ladies