Neurotic much?

[crysania4]

Gotta love neurotic parents. Yeesh. Dahlia and I were down at the park. She was laying down near the pond watching the water in case any ducks happened to come by. A mother was nearby with her two little blonde kids: a boy who was probably 1 1/2 to 2 and an older girl, maybe 5 or 6. They were throwing bread for the (non-existent) ducks, apparently hoping they would bring them to them if there was bread.

So I turn and see this girl heading toward Dahlia and I, shyly pointing as if she's asking permission to come say hi. I was about to say tell her she was friendly and she may pet her if she wanted to when the mother, all horrified and stuff, shouts "Get away from that!" Like my dog was a piece of goose poop or something. Rude.

We walked by them shortly thereafter. She had put them both in this contraption, not exactly a stroller, but this enclosed THING (as if the older kid couldn't walk) and I just wanted to say "Dahlia, get away from that" when we were near. But I held my tongue with the snarkiness and kept going.

It's like the little tow-headed kid the other day who was terrified of dogs and would scream if Dahlia (or another dog) even looked at him. The parent's reaction? "Don't worry, we'll keep that big scary doggy away from you." Way to go reinforcing the kid's fear and not teaching him the proper way to approach a dog, when to stay away from a dog, etc.

On the flip side we met a trio of black girls who were enamoured of Miss Dahlia. The oldest was probably 10 or so. The younger two were twins (dressed the same and all with blue polka dot dresses and bright pink crocs...so cute!). They petted her and thought she was great. Nice kids.

Comments

[angely78.livejournal.com]

speaking of cute kids, K's present arrived today. I dropped it in her lap and she gave me this humongous grin. I said "K, this is your Phantom", and then had to leave to run an errand. When I got BACK an hour later, she came running to me with him still in her arms, held him up and proudly announced "PHANTOM".

Mission accomplished ;-)

[crysania4.livejournal.com]

Awww yay!! I'm so glad she likes him. She's now one of us. :-D

[shinoakkitenshi.livejournal.com]

o.O well thats silly about the parents. That type of treatment to their kids won't help the kids get over their fear. =\

And thats awesome about the kids coming up and loving on her. Im sure I would too if I saw her big fluffy floppy self just moseying on by.

[crysania4.livejournal.com]

Yep...that was my thought. Like, shouldn't you be teaching your kids how to interact with dogs rather than teaching them to be afraid of them? They're GOING to see dogs throughout their lives. Being scared isn't going to help them one bit.

There's one little girl in our area who SCREAMS whenever she sees Dahlia, from only a few feet away, and then runs. And her mother allows it. I just want to smack the mom. That's a surefire way to kick up a dog's prey drive.

And LOL @ your picture of Bruno. That's a classic! He looks like a handsome lad.

[red-voodoo.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have held my tongue when I passed Mrs Bitchypants...*grrr*

[crysania4.livejournal.com]

LOL I almost didn't but decided she wasn't worth it. Stay away from THAT? Geez. I mean, I can understand if a parent shouts to their kid and tells them to never approach a strange dog and then tells them the proper way of asking, petting, etc. (and I've had plenty of awesome parents do that -- luckily Dahlia won't hurt them even if they DO come up and hug her tight), but to just shout something so rude? Geez.

[vatis.livejournal.com]

I've never had a dog and I admit I'm a little wary when I see them out and about, but I definitely don't want to pass that on to Will. When we come across people walking their dogs, he usually points and says "cat!" (we're working on that, lol) and twice I've had people offer to let him give their dog a treat. He does pretty well. :-)

[crysania4.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a good idea to teach them about dogs. They're there. They're out there. And a lot of kids are interested in them and often don't have any idea how to approach (i.e. running up and grabbing the dog, etc.). I'm fine if a parent is hesitant, but just freaking out like that and being rude about it, like I had no right to have my dog outside, was ridiculous.

My parents always taught us the proper way to approach a dog and owner, ask permission, how to pet the dog, etc. I'm very glad I grew up with dogs because I was never wary of them (I was always the one who approached strays -- never did get bitten and usually they followed me home...oops) and I knew how to approach them.

Dahlia's also awesomely kid friendly. She lets little ones pull themselves up by her fur and doesn't even bat an eyelash. It's pretty amazing. She's the perfect dog to introduce kids to, but that woman blew it and will probably make her daughter nervous around all dogs. Not good, especially since the kid so obviously loves dogs.

[stubberella.livejournal.com]

Wow, I hate overprotective parents like that and feel sorry for their kids. It's good to hear those girls loved her. =)

Sean can be a bully with the girls sometimes, but he's very good with dogs he doesn't know. Like the Rottweilers next door. I was afraid he was going to hit them at some point, but he was surprisingly nice to them. I hated letting the girls out when we lived in Downers Grove if the neighbor's kids were around. The girl was terrified of dogs because she was bit at some point so she'd run away from them (and Hope always takes that as a sign to play). The boy liked to throw things at them. Sad bit of parenting there.

[crysania4.livejournal.com]

There's a girl in our area who is scared of dogs and screams whenever she saw Dahlia. Her mother hasn't done a thing to try to help her with this fear except glare at anyone with a dog. One time I ran into the girl with two friends. She screamed and backed off but the friends wanted to pet Dahlia. Eventually the girl got up the nerve to come closer as she saw Dahlia not eating her friends. She told me she had been bitten by a mean dog and her friends said "see we told you not all dogs are like that one." The girl did finally pet her and smiled at me before the three ran off. Sad that Dahlia and I and her friends did more for her fear than her mother. Geez.

It's awful that parents wouldn't stop kids from throwing things at dogs and don't try to work through her daughter's fear or at least teach her not to run away -- for some dogs it's a sign of play, for herders it's a sign of an escaped sheep that needs to be hunted down, sometimes with nipping at the ankles or a bite to take the sheep down and get it back in the fold. Yeah..just not good.

[stubberella.livejournal.com]

I find it baffling that some parents think it's acceptable to let a fear of dogs persist in their child. And some people don't raise their pets properly (my aunt's dog recently bit a neighbor because he is totally out of control and doesn't respond to voice commands at all). But I'd think most parents would seek out a dog they know is good with kids because it's so important they know how to act around dogs and know how to approach them. I hate to think how many times kids are bit where it's the child's fault and it could have been avoided through proper parenting. And I'm sure it's the same parents who just blame the big bad dog and let their kids stay afraid. Clueless people.

[crysania4.livejournal.com]

Yep...it's ALWAYS the big bad dog's fault. But don't worry -- precious is safe because the big bad dog who was provoked beyond all belief by pencils stuck in his ears, ears tugged on, being leapt on, or having his eyes poked at (I've heard of all of these) has now been killed.

It really doesn't make sense to me to keep up a kid's fear of dogs. It's not like they can always avoid them. Friends will have them. People on the street will be walking them. Stray ones may approach. It's not like they're mountain lions or something and easily avoided.