I was hoping I wouldn't have to ask this but I have no idea how to go about it.
My niece Laila who is 4 is partly afraid of dogs. She's the one who's moving in when my brother does in two weeks. She's even afraid of their dog at times, Leo, the 13 week old SBT.
If she goes outside, she asks me to hold Leo. If I let him go, she gets upset or she'll jump on something so he can't reach her. If Leo goes near her, she'll grab his head/neck so he can't really move much. She has good moments with him as well of course. If Sunny comes near her, she has the same reaction of course. Serenity is the only one she's calmer around and that's because of course Serenity doesn't want to cuddle attack with her like the other two. Laila will let Serenity walk around her/come up to her without a issue. Plus, Serenity actually listens and will back off if told.
When she goes outside, I will do what she wants and ether hold the dogs/put them in a kennel. There are moments when she is fine with Leo wondering around without being restrained.
How can I help her like the dogs better? I have no idea what to do. She has to live around dogs for a long while so she has to get over this fear. I do know I need to teach both dogs to ignore her more but the biggest annoyance is when she's afraid and they aren't even paying attention to her/jumping up at her.
Or... Will I just have to hope she gets over this small fear as she ages?
Thank you.
My niece Laila who is 4 is partly afraid of dogs. She's the one who's moving in when my brother does in two weeks. She's even afraid of their dog at times, Leo, the 13 week old SBT.
If she goes outside, she asks me to hold Leo. If I let him go, she gets upset or she'll jump on something so he can't reach her. If Leo goes near her, she'll grab his head/neck so he can't really move much. She has good moments with him as well of course. If Sunny comes near her, she has the same reaction of course. Serenity is the only one she's calmer around and that's because of course Serenity doesn't want to cuddle attack with her like the other two. Laila will let Serenity walk around her/come up to her without a issue. Plus, Serenity actually listens and will back off if told.
When she goes outside, I will do what she wants and ether hold the dogs/put them in a kennel. There are moments when she is fine with Leo wondering around without being restrained.
How can I help her like the dogs better? I have no idea what to do. She has to live around dogs for a long while so she has to get over this fear. I do know I need to teach both dogs to ignore her more but the biggest annoyance is when she's afraid and they aren't even paying attention to her/jumping up at her.
Or... Will I just have to hope she gets over this small fear as she ages?
Thank you.