I fell in love with a dog at the shelter

[bleedingheart]

he is a little corgi..

Gosh he is adorable...but my daughter is scared out of her mind.

We went there with my little girl and she just froze up cuz the pup (almost a year) was friendly.

I would love to get him but I dn't want to have my poor daughter be out of her mind with fear of the dog. She was so keen on having a dog but was just too afraid.

I was afraid of dogs as a kid and my parents got a puppy...perhaps starting with a puppy would be better??? I dunno but that dog was a number one cutie pie..

[XemaSab]

1. How old is your daughter?

She should mellow out towards the dog pretty quickly. :shrug:

[bleedingheart]

2. I dunno..

she is 8..

she basically hung on her dad's neck once the dog came into the visitor's room.

prior to that..she seemed to like the dog but was very skittish in the kennel because all the dogs were barking. This corgi isn't a barker...but gosh he was very affectionate.

[MoseyWalker]

3. Give them some time

love overcomes any and all obstacles! It does!

Good luck

[MarianJack]

5. And Dogs...

...have almost UNLIMITED love to give.

[Lex]

4. I think having her own dog might loosen her up a bit about dogs

and she'll see how awesome they are.

:hi:

[flvegan]

6. Is this her first exposure to a dog?

Sometimes children are like this around animals the first time.

At a petting zoo, the goats scare them. At the zoo, the animals that come too close are frightful.

[bleedingheart]

7. no

our neighbor has a black lab that is the sweetest dog in the world....my daughter runs from it in fright.
our other neighbor just got a new lhasa apsa (spelling?)
and across the street are chihuahua's
and all of them scare my daughter.

I don't know why...

[flvegan]

9. Okay, okay

but this would be the first dog in the house, yes?

[bleedingheart]

10. yeah first dog

[flvegan]

11. Very typical.

Many children are afraid of a new animal when they haven't had one in the house. No biggie.

Slow introduction, crazy-careful supervision. Give the little one the toys to play with the dog with.

To me, it seems that you've made a good choice in a dog.

I'll bet that if you do the slow 'n easy, your kiddo and that dog will be attached at the hip in a month.

I run a rescue, I speak from experience.

[Mz Pip]

8. New things

(or critters) can be scary. Don't let that stop you. Your daughter and the critter will be glad for it. They will be fast friends. Trust your gut. It will be fine.

A puppy is a whole lot more work. Training, whining, chewing...

Good luck. :loveya:

Mz Pip
:dem:

[XemaSab]

12. Puppies can be REALLY frustrating

I got a new puppy a year ago and there was about 6 weeks there when I thought I had made a TERRIBLE mistake. He would chew on me ALL THE TIME and it would HURT. I didn't want to be around him. He also took some time to be housebroken. The second time in a night the dog pees all over your bed, the night drop at the pound seems like a humane option. :banghead:

But he grew out of it and is a really sweet, smart, gentle dog now. :)

[LeftyMom]

13. Can I suggest something?

Go to the toy store, pick out a stuffed dog together. Practice all the things you'll do with the dog, talk about the proper way to approach a dog, model caring for the dog like you would a real one. Talk about how little kids make dogs nervous too, and what she can do to make the dog feel safe (slow movement, low, soft voice, etc.) If she's just nervous and uncertain that and getting a really even-tempered mellow dog (an older dog, not a puppy- puppies nip) should do it.

If that doesn't help at all and she continues to be frightened around most or all dogs, she's likely phobic and you're not going to be dog people until she outgrows it (somewhat unlikely) or grows up and moves out.

[femmocrat]

14. Oh.... who would dump a corgi at the shelter?

That breaks my heart! :cry:

Corgis are wonderful, adorable, and loving companions. A year-old corgi would be over the puppy stages of nipping and chewing (if it was trained). They are extremely intelligent and learn quickly.

I hope it works out for you and your family.