I will admit I do not like dogs

chicagowife

Ladies, ladies ladies....Calm down, relax everybody.

This reminds me of the time when my mom got bit by my aunt's Rottweiler when she was visiting, actually delivering a meal, to my grandmother, who happened to live with said aunt.  After the incident, my mother was deathly terrified of the dog.  She requested that the dog please be sheltered elsewhere on certain days so that she could visit her mother and deliver the meals (grandma was 80 something and was left alone during the day so she really needed company, food, etc)

Unfortunately, my aunt followed some of the logic on this board.  The dog was part of the family, it was up to my mother is she wanted to visit or not, how rude of her to ask that the dog she was scared of be crated, the poor dog would not be crated, tough sh...., etc

As a result, we no longer went to visit and poor grandma went w/o company and meals - she had to figure it out on her own. HUGE falling out!

I know my example is a bit extreme BUT I'mjust trying to make the point that people's feelings and level of comfort are more important than a dog's. As someone said, the dog will sense her fear and act accordingly.  OR don't you dog lover's know that?

And yes, while she should not pass on these feeling of fear to her child, maybe Christmas is not exactly the best day to start. Aren't the holidays stressful enough?

fIowerchild

I think it's kind of sad when kids are afraid of dogs.

That said, my dogs are really on my nerves these days.

J+O

McLovin I totally get what you're saying, and I was actually attacked by a dog as a child and I don't trust them to be around my DS without CLOSE supervision, sometimes that isn't even enough.  I don't trust people when they say their dog is "nice" and "doesn't bite."

How does your H feel about all this though?  I would HATE to miss Christmas and other holidays because of this issue.

If I was in your shoes, I would go and if it really an issue I would leave early.  Some dogs are very calm around kids, my DS LOVES dogs though and screams when he sees them and he gets along very well with my MIL's dogs... but she still puts them in the back of the house when we come regardless. 

LoriFalce

Nobody's required to like dogs. And frankly, I think it's probably safer for a kid to be cautious around dogs than to be mildly obsessed with them like my son, who would cheerfully walk into the jaws of a rabid wolf trying to "give dog love." It's a constant struggle to get him to realize he has to ask before he can interact with a dog, and he's utterly mystified when someone tells us it's probably best that he not get too close. But the owners of dogs that aren't very kid-friendly are always so relieved that we insist on getting permission before just letting Joseph walk up and starting hugging their antsy Rottweiler.