2yo scared of barking dogs

[nelly]

HI guys my 2yo has a fear of dogs barking (we obviously don't have one) he is quite timid around them if comes across one but generally warms to them and will pat them after a while.

We live in typical suburbia where you have dongs barking night and day. Daytime I explain that the dogs are just letting people know they are there and are in their own yards and won't come visiting unless we open the gates and invite them. Nighttime if he hears a dog bark we have to close all of the curtains, and sometimes windows, and he has been constantly waking at night (usually hourly) and even if I can't hear the dog barking he will be crying saying the dogs is barking and scaring or annoying him.

Am in a quandary not sure how to handle the nights in particular ....

[Nadine216]

How about letting him listen to it while you sit with him? Ask him if he can hear if the dog is a big dog or a small dog. Point out the difference between barks in different dogs.
I sometimes find that when dd is scared of something, she just needs to make it in a game.

We got these darn awfull birds nesting in the plot next to us and they made a truely awfull sound, that frightens dd everytime. I would just go in and explain to her that they are singing and that they are off-key or hoarse or it's a daddy-bird AND that I forbade them to come into the house and that they are more scared of me than she is of them .. because I have a broom Don't ask, apparently brooms are scary to birds!

OR how about playing some music in his room to drown out the barking?

Just brainstorming here