I need help with something because I really have not a clue what to do.
L is almost 11.
He is terrified of dogs.
TERRIFIED.
Here is a bit of background.
When he was 2 he had a German Shepherd come up in his face and growl showing his teeth.
He has been scared of dogs ever since.
We have worked SO hard with him to overcome his fear of a dog.
We were doing okay with it until our neighbor's pit bulls got loose and ran and jumped on M.
We are back to square one
It is a million times worse with his sensory issues.
One of his problems is he hears everything.
I can filter out noises, he hears all the little things we can filter out.
L goes ape when he hears a dog bark.
I am sure it is a combination of fear from what happened when he was 2 and his senses.
If we are outside and he hears someone's keys jingle he is paranoid that it is a dogs tag and he freaks out.
He will not walk by houses that have a front door open or a garage door that is lifted up.
That is the mild part.
This scares the heck out of me and I really do not know what to do.
If we are out and he hears a dog bark, he will run into the street.
He does not care if there is traffic or whatever, he will run into the street.
He did it to ME the other day.
I could tell what he was doing and I was not going fast at all so I was able to stop.
It seriously scares me!
He has run into traffic that is going full speed and have to slam their brakes on to stop for him.
I have said to him, "L, a CAR that hits you at full speed will KILL you or hurt you more than a dog"
He totally acknowledges it but still does it.
This drives me INSANE!
Anyone who is a mom knows my fear of having something happen to one of my kids.
I am worried to go for a walk with him.
He takes off into the street with no warning.
Tips, ideas, hints??
PLEASE!
I really have no clue what to do.
Pushing him to be friendly with a dog does not work.
4 comments:
Oh wow. I am so not someone to give advice about this, so take what I say with that in mind. :)
What about buying a small, but fairly sedate dog breed? Even a mid-sized one that loves kids? Maybe that would help if he cared for it and had one at home?
My boys have had dogs and as a result have stories to tell and experiences with them. Of course I have never had one afraid of dogs before either.
I think he should choose it too if you do get one. I make my boys research something before we get it and they seem like they are that much more invested if we do something like that together.
Good luck. That would scare me too if my child was at that point. I really hope you can find some way to help him overcome it to a point that he will not be so worried.
Yikes! Make him come out and spend time with our dogs! hahaha he will really hate them they are in the big puppy stage.
I have no clue what to do. I wasn't the best mom with fears they really frustrated me so I didn't usually qualify them. I was the parent when her child acted up in the store I didn't baby them at all just walked away hoping a stranger would take her home! LOL sorry I am not good at this as I don't understand anyone not loving pets.
He an seriously come and play with ours if you think it will help. I think some dogs are very scary such as the pitbull.
I can relate somewhat as Reid has major sensory issues too. The thing that worked for him is we took him to a counselor. They have free councillors at the hospital here and we saw one that was amazing!! Not only did it help with his sensory issues but also with his extreme social phobia. He went from not being able to say hi to someone to giving a talk in primary. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Start by going to the hospital and they will assess him and let you know what they can do.
I know I have don't have kids so I probably don't have any right giving advice but the 1st thing I thought of was seeing a counsellor or a pyscologist or something. I hope you can get this worked out!
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