Emma has an extreme fear of dogs. It is bad enough that she would rather not go someplace fun or see people she loves if it involves being around a dog. When we are around them we try to help her cope, but too many bad experiences have piled up so this sometimes seems to be a losing battle.
When we went to Michigan we prepared her (as we usually do) to be around their dog Squirt. Now, one thing we already had going for us is that from our last visit Emma thought Squirt was "cute". He is also a pretty well trained dog. He does not have free reign of the house so there are "dog free" areas. That helps tremendously. He is also somewhat little, so much less intimidating.
We worked with Emma quite a bit in this relaxed, controlled environment and she made major progress. She was not 100% comfortable, but she did initiate contact with Squirt many times and her actions were not controlled by where he was or what he was doing. This was a HUGE step in the right direction! We were so proud of her!
The proof is in the pictures!
The boys loved Squirt too and had lots of fun petting him and playing with him
Emma shooting a laser light on the floor for Squirt to chase-- this was super fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment