Creed is confused

danelle · #1 8th April 2002, 09:09 AM

Poor little Creed, over the weekend my son had a friend stop by to play. I found out very quickly, this kid is absolutely terrified of dogs. I tried everything to make him feel comfortable but he was not interested in it, he just kept saying "this is not enjoyable, this is not enjoyable" But Creed could not figure this out, he beaned, he whined, he gave the puppy dog face, but Justin was not buying it. Creed would then give me the look, the one all boxer owners have seen, the one that says "why doesn't he want to play with me?" he was so pitiful.

Scorpio · #2 8th April 2002, 10:21 AM

Oh poor Creed, well its not his fault, maybe the more your sons friend comes over he will get used to dogs, heres hoping for the kids sake too.

monty'smum · #3 8th April 2002, 12:31 PM

Oh I so,so sympathise with you and Creed

All my life I have been brought up with boxers and have gone through this with my friends and now my daughters friends. I do try to see it from both sides and if some child is terrified of dogs then I feel it's best that the parent are there when the child is first introduced to the dog. I sometimes forget just how boisterous and big our boxers are and it's not just children who are scared, many of my adult friends have been too.
When my daughter was 5 we had a small terrier who adored children. However, one of my daughters friends would only come to our house when I left Owain with my sister. I accepted that this little girl was petrified of dogs but at the same time didn't want to confine Owain to just one room while she was here. At the same time I didn't feel it was my job to try and convince her that Owain was a loving dog, I'm sure her parents would have had more success at this than me at the time. The friendship continued and as she grew older she eventually accepted Owain but to this day I don't think she really likes dogs.
I must say now Harriets friends are older (14) Monty doesn't go anywhere and they either accept him or stay at home. To his credit he is not a jumpy Boxer and if people ignore him he settles down pretty quickly. But I do see that pitiful look too and my heart bleeds for him.
They only want to play don't they?