ROLFLMAO! Dace that made my day. What a dunce I am.
I went back and read that and of COURSE you meant your daughter, that is what DD always means....I just had dog on the brain...
Sorry.....if she is freckled or shortlegged will she still qualify as a dapple doxie?
You meant would SHE overcome her fear of dogs.
I have known many people who have, several who worked in vet clinics and in rescue. I'd just make sure she has good experiences and learns to be the one in control. I teach kids a few things about being around dogs.
Here are my kid pointers....gosh I had a two page thing written down in my old computer but I'll try to remember them and these are kind of the words I use to teach kids about dogs and cater it to a scared eight year old girl.
1. Kids like to hug and dogs don't really like it. Teach your daughter to greet dogs a different way, not hugging. Generally scratching a chest is the best first approach for most dogs, not patting the head or sniffing a hand. They don't need to sniff you to smell you, they can smell you across the room just fine. I like to go from chest scratching to scratching behind the ear. This would be for a nice, calm dog. When you hug a dog, you are actually saying to it, "I am the boss of you" especially if you put your head over their shoulders. To dogs, this is a sign of dominance, putting your head over their shoulders, or invading their space in front of them. If your daughter is scared she may not want to hug, tell her that is really good. Dogs will sometimes learn to like hugging but actually they just tolerate it most of the time.
2. Dogs that are rowdy or wild need a commanding presence from a child. Standing tall, crossing arms and using body language that looks tough (arms akimbo, etc) actually means something to the dogs because big sometimes means alpha to them. Try to keep her from sitting on the ground or making herself smaller when dealing with large rowdy dogs. Making herself larger is better, like standing on a step, etc.
3. Having the child teach a dog sit or perform sit can be very rewarding. Give them a treat and have them hold the treat over the dog's nose, about a foot over their head, and draw their hand towards the tail. Almost all dogs will sit when you do that. Have her give the treat when the dog sits.Even if your dog knows this command, having the CHILD command the dog makes a difference, or have her teach a new dog. If your dog can progress to other tricks this would be a positive reward for your
DD. I would imagine teaching that sheltie to "speak" would be pretty easy.
Playing dead is also not really so hard and if she can get the sheltie to do that and show it off, I bet she will like dogs a lot better. If your dog already knows tricks, just tell your daughter she is the "expert" and the dog "does it best for her" so the two will work on it together.
4. Teach her not to stare in a strange dogs eyes. That means "I am the boss of you." Teach her she is correct to never approach a strange dog without asking. Kids with no fear at all with sometimes be the ones that get bit.
5. Teach her to move totally out of the way of anything resembling dogs fighting.....immediately and without hesitation. In general, moving slowly around dogs is always good but during a dog fight, scram!
5. Teach her that dogs smell when you are afraid. Tell her that makes them afraid of HER, that she is scary when she is scared. Sometimes hearing that their sweat is smelly to dogs will make kids giggle and you can get them to relax by reminding them things like "don't sweat!", but try to get her to be truly at ease and not just pretending. Dogs are not as NICE to scared people, it makes them suspicious. I tell them that dogs don't need to smell your armpits to smell you and pretend to smell under my arms and they usually giggle.
6. The person who feeds a dog commands it. Have the dog you have work for food....from her....teach her that when she is in command of the "resources" the dog wants, she is the ruler, and that she must make the dogs "work" for anything that she gives them. Tell her that is their "job" to be a "good dog" for her. If she is watching Cesar these concepts are probably sinking in well.
7. Have her take charge of the doorways and not let dogs run out in front of her. Dogs feel the one who goes through doors first is the more alpha, controlling one. If possible, train the dog to wait until told they can go outside, especially by her. You may have to train the dog first yourself to do this and then have her do it. People think I'm strange about this doorway thing, but people always marvel at how I change the fosters and really the only thing I always train every single one is not to charge out the door, because it is a pet peeve of mine to have my feet run over. I hate shoes so I'm alway barefoot.
8. If she can learn a commanding presence with her own dog and you are growing more confident, find a very friendly very large dog somewhere with one of your friends. I have a big old golden who would be perfect. Let her spend some time with it. Make sure the dog is the really slow lumbering child loving kind. A dog like that can go a long way to dispel fears. Just make sure the dog is HUGE. Getting used to the big size often really helps.
9. Teach her that all dogs are different and to watch for signs. Wagging tail is easy of course but isn't 100 percent accurate. Try to show her when your dog is making different signs to her, such as laying the ears back in submission as opposed to laying their ears back in anger. It looks different and an 8-year-old will be able to read dog body language just fine. Tell her dogs use their bodies to talk since they can't use their mouths. Head down means they are sorry, etc. Translate your dog's "messages" for her so she begins to understand them.
10. Let her have fun with them especially with puppies, they win over people's hearts.....
I wish I knew a great dog book to suggest for children, but the only one I can think of is for the parents, it is by Brian Kilcommon and is called How to Child Proof Your Dog. It is very good. I don't train the same way he does but his concepts are correct.
Gosh, I was going through Dapple Doxie, Dumb Dalmation, couldn't figure out why I couldn't figure out the breed!
I guess she was "purebred American?"
