Panic and fear were written all over her face, as the four year old screamed and jumped up on the couch. My husband and looked at each other in confusion. It never occurred to us that a child would be terrified of a small quiet sheltie. Our dog looked at us wagging his tail as confused as we were. Her parents were apologizing trying to explain their daughter's strange behavior. We vowed then to make sure that any child we had would never be afraid of pets. We truly believe that the most well balanced kids come from families with pets.
My husband and I both grew up surrounded by pets. We got our first dog together two months before our wedding. Fuzz is a great dog and he fell in love with our daughter when she was born. He would guard over her and kiss her feet. He always wanted her in his line of vision. He was tolerant of her pulling his tail and her squeezes. We taught her how to be more gentle and loving towards pets.
When our daughter turned two we added a German Shepherd puppy to our family. Our daughter's first friends were her dogs.