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Hi everyone first post here. We recently got our first and somewhat unexpected foster placement of 2 sisters. One absolutely loves our 55 pound dog and the other is so afraid she is unwilling to be in the same room as him unless someone is holding him. As we have no real parenting experience prior to this we don't know what to do to try to calm her fears. She claims she doesn't hate the dog and is both shy and trying to process the big change from living with a long term (6 years) foster family to a brand new one, and that she in general just doesn't like being near dogs unless they are very small. Until this point our dog has been the center of our lives so he hasn't had any real rules aside from not jumping up on people. He wants to be around where everyone is and hates the idea of being alone so will bark if we have him outside and no one else is with him or if he's crated while people are home. Otherwise he usually only barks when the door bell rings or is knocked on or a few times when new people visit. Obviously he barked at both girls when they got there, but he's since quieted down in their presence. We managed to all eat dinner together last night with the dog outside but that's not always going to be an option.
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I have ZERO experience with foster children, but i do have experience with kids being afraid of dogs! I have a 70lb pitbull, sweetest dog ever, but the kids from the hood were terrified b/c they were used to seeing/ interacting with "fighting" dogs. Every day I came with my dog to work on the property. Some children were just a bit hesitant before becoming fast friends, others their fears ran deeper. I NEVER tried to force a child to interact with my dog. I let them go at their own pace, their natural curiosity would get the better of them all! It's good one child isn't afraid. The other will see the interactions and hopefully mirror/learn not to fear. Or perhaps its more of an attention thing? I wouldn't force anything but you could invite her to help you "train" your dog. That way they both get attention, and can bond too. Simple things like teaching the dog to "sit" or "stay" "lay down" Wonderful optys for you to encourage the child and tell them what a great job they're doing, what a big help they are. I offered the invitations to the very scared children every time i saw them, usually it was just a few days before they wanted to take those first steps towards the dog. Make sure you teach the child the correct way to approach a dog and pet a dog- give her a feeling of control and knowledge. Since she's processing so much right now I would make this all very casual and not push anything, all at her pace. In the meantime, I'd suggest tethering your dog indoors to prevent unsupervised interaction and to make the child feel at ease. Personally, I would not keep the dog outside or exclude from family events, i don't see that helping the situation. Maybe let her clip the tether so she can see he can only go a certain distance. Just some thoughts. Best of luck, let us know how it goes! I'm anxious about getting foster kids and how they will interact with my dog!
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