Do you think my daughter is overreacting?

[SarahJPG]

My brother came over today, and he brought over his dog, he has a 260 pound English mastiff, the dog is really sweet. But for some reason my four year old daughter didn’t want to be anywhere near the dog. they have met before at my brothers house, she was afraid then also.

why is this? she adores dogs, we have a border collie and they get along and play together just fine, even on day one when I first brought the dog home. My dog and my brothers dog are identical to him. . But she is just really scared of the mastiff for some reason. of course I respect my daughter and I make sure she feels safe. But why is she like this?

Is it really true that a dog like a Rottweiler or a mastiff will very easily over a toddler with a simple trivial tail wag, or by just walking past? The dog is super super gentle and sweet and would never ever do this. Even so, our border collie could do the same thing.


My brothers dog has done nothing wrong. Why is she acting so scared of him? Like I said we have a border collie at home and they play together.

My daughter is so small that she has to physically look up at the border collie, when they stand side-by-side, she is eye level with the very bottom of his chin. And she can stand on her tippy toes and she will just barely be able to see eye to eye with him. and he’s just your average border collie, he weighs in at around 40 pounds and is way stronger than my daughter. and even from day one, she didn’t let the height strength and weight of the border collie get to her. So why is she so afraid of the mastiff?

 

[AlanKlein]

I wouldn't let my 4 year old near a strange dog that big. You never know. Why don't you trust your cautious daughter rather than a strange dog? She knows the collie and the collie knows her. PS I';d be afraid of 240 pound mastiff too brother's or not.

 

[Don Fischer]

I wold say it's the size of the dog that bother's her.

 

[ndcisiv]

I really enjoy taking macro photos of bees. I love bees. If I came across a 250 pound bee you can bet your @$$ I would be nowhere near it. Heck, a 10 pound bee would make me flee.

 

[Rickbb]

No she’s not. She’s telling you she is afraid and needs you to protect her. Trust her instincts not the dog.

 

[Don Fischer]

There were some people living in Big Lake, Alaska while I was up there. They had a pet wolf and it was tame as could be. Woman left the wolf to watch the baby while she went to the store. Gone about 30 minutes and when she got home the wolf was eating the baby. Wild animals are wild animals! Captive wild animals are wild animals! Wild animals turned into pet's are wild animals! Lot of people don't seem to get that!

 

[webestang64]

I do not trust or like dogs. But I was almost killed by a so called friendly dog when I was 14.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Trust your daughter!
If she is sending 'fear' to the dog, he'll recognize that and that's Not good.

You can read many, many stories about dogs attacking people that usually has, ' but its never done /shown aggression before. ..." in its story.

Yours is not to wonder, just protect her.

 

[cgw]

Zombie lock-down candidate!

 

[ClintLloyd]

Good on you for being so adamant about her facing her fears. If the dog is absolutely harmless then it doesn't matter how big it is, you can always tell when they don't have any aggression in them whatsoever.

I'd just say to not be overly forceful but just encourage and let her connect with the dog on her own time when she is ready. Once she sees how gentle he is with everyone else then she will eventually come around.

I applaud you for feeling this way with your daughter as I now think we are living in a world where people are frightened of anything and everything, it is causing society to connect with their synthetic gadgets rather than go out and experience this beautiful 'dangerous' world we have around us.

 

[snowbear]

semi-zombie thread; OP hasn't been back since October.
Locking it.