I totally agree!! It's pathetic isn't it?!! It really does my head in!!

It's funny because one of the main reasons I always wanted to get a dog was because I didn't grow up around them myself and I didn't want any kids I had to grow up wary purely because of unfamiliarity with them (hah hah on the kids front). It's thanks to those who DID have dogs around me - like the Guide leader who always brought hers on camps and the like, that I learnt how to act around them and that, while they were woofy rather than miaowy, they were actually OK animals to be around... doubt you'd be able to take the dog on a Guide camp these days lol.

I find the cloud of paranoia and hysteria utterly riduculous - it's almost like some won't be happy UNTIL their kid is terrified - I guess they think drumming up hysteria to the level where a child runs screaming will keep them safe or something.

Daft thing is - usually when I've got the dog out the comments from the kids are "awww isn't he lovely" and similar!

As others have said...it isn't the kids, but the parents or other adults 9 times of 10.

My grandmother, aunt and uncle will not come around and will certainly not bring my young cousins around unless my dogs are shut away. This is, according to them (mainly my grandmothers influence -- my aunt and uncle are not anywhere near as bad), necessary in case the dogs "might turn and bite" and due to "the germs they carry". The kids on the other hand are NOT, despite what they claim, scared of the dogs...they are infact very curious about them, and when grandma is not looking, they kids come and sneak a stroke/hug in.

Yes I have !
I was out with a friend and her border collie . All the dog did was to run past a child , it wasn't looking at the child ,
it wasn't the least bit interested in the child , it wasn't barking . The Father of the child was shaking and white with rage . He had a huge big go at my friend .
I thought he was going to hit her he was so angry

When I was at junior school (many many years ago ~ I don't think they're even called that now!) the headmaster had a corgi that followed him around the school all day. All the children were petrified of the dog as it was a nippy yappy stressy thing that clearly hated kids. Several were bitten by this dog, & on occasion, it drew blood.

Can you imagine that dog's fate nowadays? But it sure taught us not to touch strange dogs!

Oh dear.Guess I was hoping my own sex had more sense.Maybe the relative scarcity of men behaving badly in this situation is merely because it's more common for mammy to be out with the kids.
Anger is too often the reaction to fear don't you think?

Labradork-what a pity those kids are being brought up to see dogs ONLY as germcarriers and potential killers!!!!What a lot of joy and learning they are missing out on.
I understand that some people have a genuine fear of dogs-my mum was terrified and we had to cross the road if she saw 1 coming towards us..But this doesnt seem to be the case with your grandmother.
I would never lock my animals away for any visitor ,as they are part of my family (If a visitor they had a genuine fear I would try to help them overcome it)
.But I would not leave any child alone with my dog either-not that he "would turn and bite",but just because its sensible.
I think if I were you I would have to have a word with my grandmother to explain how I felt.I certainly would find a way to enable the kids to interact with your dogs ,they shouldnt be denied this because of the way your grandmother feels.
(Perhaps you could have 1 of those suits for your grandmother that Forensic investigators have,which cover you from head to foot thereby keeping the dogs germs away)Sorry-Im not getting at you at all, just feeling a bit fed up today with the way some people view animals.
from Maureen

My stepfather's not overly keen on dogs (his brother had three very badly trained, never walked, lots of dribble boxers that put him off them completely - I'm sure you can picture the sort, not stereotyping boxers here but they can be slightly... bouncy if left to run amok like these were - usual story, kids had lost interest, "care" involved shoving dog food out twice a day...) yet even he's managed to warm to my guy - moving from a look of utter horror when he first met him, to a "oh he's a very quiet dog - he can come and stay again" to being spotted sneaking him a sly biscuit when he thought no one was watching... was just utter utter lack of familiarity with a decently-behaved dog that was the route of his unease.

But even if you aren't easy around any situation - don't you owe it to your kids to at least attempt not to pass your fears on to them? I remember one school trip I went on when I was training to be a teacher - and me, and the class teacher both had an utter terror of fluttery insects... and the trip involved a visit to a butterfly house. We put our total terror of things fluttering around us as far to the back of our minds as possible, glued the smile on our faces and went through it - so we didn't give the kids the idea that these were something to fear (as it was the kids were more enchanted by the dead one on the floor than anything else - typically)! Surely that's part of what you'd want for your kids - for them NOT to grow up with the fears you may well have carried, to not be limited by that within their lives and to be able to make their own informed decisions about how to act - rather than to have to run to cross the road because a dog/cat/slug (my own particular one that one) is on the pavement?!

The woman I mentioned - her child wasn't at all phased by my dog (like I say I'd brought him to a sit to the side of the road, sniffing at a treat in my hand so his nose wasn't even going in the direction of a child - to make him as non-threatening as possible) but the kid was terrified by his mother propelling him by the hood on the back of his coat and screeching almost hysterically (I suspect there was an aspect of stage whisper in there to get at the nasty dog owner and to curry support that she was a good mummy to be honest) along the street faster than his legs could go!

We've got one couple who won't come in our house because of our two. They seem to think that because Robbie is quite big, and Lady is giddy then they are scary.

But then another couple comes round and Lady loves one of them. She crawls over him and just rests her head on his chest staring at him while he strokes her. Tart!

My dogs are NEVER shut away ... if visitors don't like them, then they know where the door is!! My dogs are part of my family, I would no more dream of shutting them away than I would my daughter. In fact, thinking about how appalling my daughter's behaviour can be even now at nearly 24, I think I am far more likely to shut HER away!! I go nowhere where my dogs are not welcome ... if they are not welcome, then I am not.

Ooooo this anti-dog, germ, danger thing really gets my goat!!