everyone is afraid of my great dane, Why?

Question

she's big and intimidating, but she has a mindset somewhat similair to a kitten. My sister revealed to me today her reluctance to have my dog near her kids... a four year old girl, and a six year old girl. My dane has been around her kids on numerous occasions, but everytime she sees a news story about a dog hurting a kid... it makes it that much harder for me and jeanie to stop by. She says- your dog is just toooo big. I know the truth, my nieces are the safest they can ever be when uncle ricky and his dane are in town. How do I convince my sister?

I thought I made it clear that we live in separate towns. Meaning a three hour drive. Yeah, I'll just leave her home for the weekend. She can order a pizza if she gets hungry. Most families don't live in the same zip code anymore you freakin redneck.

thanks for the stats mightit100, good time to point out that my sister has a dog... a little beagle-terrier mix. A dog. A little dog that can uncharacteristically snap just like my gentle giant?

Answer 1

ASk her to pay very close attention to those stories about kids being hurt by dogs and tell you how many of them were great danes.

I'm guessing none, I never heard of a great dane hurting anyone or anything.

Answer 2

I know what you mean - I have four giant breed dogs. My one male is not quite as large as a Dane, but is 34" at the withers and 165 pounds.

I think all you can do is keep showing her. First of all I'll assume your dog is well trained. Keep her on a leash when you are around them until your sister is comfortable with her again. She may just need a reminder that your dog is not the dog that she hears bad things about on the news.

Something else you might want to try if it fits in with your lifestyle, is therapy with your girl. If she earns her TDI and is eligible to go into hospitals and libraries to work with kids, certainly your sister would trust her then.

Don't give up - Dane's are beautiful gentle creatures. Keep telling the world. Good luck.

Answer 3

Their size is intimidating to people, little do they know they are the gentle giants of dogs, however I would not leave small children unattended around any dog, but I'm sure that you don't do this. We have had Danes for over 30 years and love them, and as long as we are able to care for them we will always have a Dane, we also have two dachshunds to go along with our two harlequin Danes and they get along great and the Danes are really protective of the small dogs. People that have never owned a Dane just don't understand do they?

Answer 4

It's a very BIG dog. I have kids and no matter how tame a dog is I am always careful when they are around the kids.

In the end, the dog is at heart a wild animal and can at any time "go wild". There are hundreds of stories where the dog owner says "I just don't understand, my dog had such a good temperament".

Kids are funny things and sometimes poke and prod where it is not welcome and regardless of how tame and timid your dog may be, just a poke or prod in the wrong place could cause the dog to "defend" itself and they usually defend with their mouth!

You have to understand your sisters point of view and think to yourself, if the dog ever did do something, how would I deal with it. Is the inconvenience worth it?

I can understand your frustration but on the same hand, kids are hard to replace so I understand your sisters point of view as well.

Good luck.

Answer 5

I've heard it helps to dress them up a bit - like tie a colorful bandana around her neck - it'll make her "seem" friendlier and more approachable to people who aren't used to dogs.

When people put chain collars or "spiked" collars on their dogs, it makes the dog seem mean - so it stands to reason that something "cute" and playful would make the dog seem easy-going. It's not every day that people meet a Great Dane! You'll spend a lot of time educating people about them.

Also, it helps if she's well-trained and under complete voice control. People are afraid of animals that jump on them or ignore their owner's commands to sit, etc. If she has nice manners, people will be impressed with her, and the breed in general.

They really are beautiful dogs!

Answer 6

She may be afraid that the dogs may not get along with each other and fight and the kids may accidentally get caught in the middle of it. I've heard of more people being bitten by little dogs than by the big ones. I used to have a big Chessie that a couple of little kids have crawled all over and he just sat there. He tipped the scales at just over 100 lbs. It's a mommy thing, you may be better off letting it go. If the kids love your pup, they may pester mom enough to let your dog visit.

Answer 7

I have a mastive rotwhiler (actualy he's my little bro's) and a standard poodle. when my brother and I walk our dogs together everyone avoids my bros dog (who loves everyone) and instead go to pet my poodle (who is people shy). why? because some thing about dogs with big mouths, big bodies and big voices scare people even if they know that your dog is friendly. and as we all know that dogs bark at lest once in their life time (unless they dont have vocal cords but thats rather cruel) and when it's big and mean sounding it makes people scared that the dog is mad at them.

anyway the best way to help her fear would be to show her how good your dog is. can your dog do tricks? can he hold an egg in his mouth? does he come when called? if not try working on those tricks to make your sister more convinced that your dane is gentle

Answer 8

I can understand the fact that dane's are like kittens but you have to see her point too. She's a big dog that she is unfamiliar with around her two small children. Plus Danes can have alot of angry when they play she might be afraid that she will knock them over. Let her get use to your dog and see how great she is. Let her love your dog!

Answer 9

Unfortunately, if a person's afraid of a dog, there's not much you can do. Great Danes are fabulous with kids, but some parents are just too paranoid about their kids to believe any of that "mumbo jumbo." Telling her she's being ridiculous will probably just make her mad. Parents never like to hear they're wrong in the way they're raising their kids--especially if they ARE wrong!

Answer 10

I am sorry to say this but if your sister feels that way it is better to keep your dog away. I love my pup - she only weighs 5 1/2 pounds - and my nephews are terrified of her (she is a chihuahua). I generally try to keep her away from them - for their sake and also for my dog's sake. Sometimes the sweetest dogs in the world can still bite a child - because children can make dogs nervous - especially if the dog is not around them that much. My oldest daughter was bit by a dog once and it was a pretty deep wound. The dog that bit her was not being agressive - it was trying to play with her.

Here are some statistics on dog bites:
Dog Bite Statistics
Dog bites result in approximately 44,000 facial injuries in US hospitals each year. This represents between 0.5% and 1.5% of all emergency room visits. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States seeks medical attention for a dog bite. Male patients slightly outnumber females in most studies. Unfortunately children comprise 60% of the dog bite victims. Severe injuries occur almost exclusively in children less than 10 years of age. The face is the most frequent target (77% of all injures). Mail carriers are an exception where 97% involve the lower extremities. We see an unusual number of dreadful injuries each spring. Severely injured patients stay an average of 4.2 days in the hospital. Dog bites cause an average of 18 deaths a year.
Almost $165 million is spent treating dog bites in the United States for the estimated 800,000 dog bite related injuries requiring treatment each year. 70% of dog bites occur on the owner's property.
These wounds potentially result in disfiguring scars. The central target area for the face includes the lips, nose, and cheeks. Dog bites are becoming more common with a 37% increase in medically treated cases between 1986 to 1994 (dog population rose less than 2%)
Dog human interaction
The vast majority of bites are by pet dogs and happen when people are engaged in socially acceptable behavior in appropriate places. They generally (61%) occur close to dog's home or home of the bitten person. Typically (77%) injuries are by friendly dogs known to the bitten person. In one study of an urban emergency room of children less than 4 years old, 47% were bitten by their dog and 90% were bitten at home. When broadly defining provocation, almost half of all injuries are provoked. Children aged 5 or younger are more likely to provoke animals.

Hounds are less likely to injure than working or sporting breeds. Puppies are also more likely to injure than an adult dog.


Added comment:

Maybe your sister just doesn't want you to bring your dog to her house - and she is using this as an excuse??? (Now that I know she has a dog also - could be possible - I don't know).