I will give you my experience since it reminds of yours.

When I was about 4yrs old I was at the park with my father and sister. Someone let their pit-bull off their leash and it ran through the park. It found me. My dad had my sister on his shoulders at the time, playing, so he didn’t have much leeway during the event. The dog chased me in circles multiple times around my dad until the owners finally came. The dog never bit me, but the trauma was set. I could not be on the same sidewalk as any dog. I would force my parents to cross the street. I lived in a city, so you can imagine how annoying that was.

Fast forward a few years. My aunt was visiting in town and dropped off a surprise. A brand new puppy (in hindsight them accepting this dog was probably a gamble, but maybe they were banking on me not being afraid of a puppy). It was some kind of labrador mix that stayed really small. The dog terrified me at first, but it was a puppy and it needing us really helped me with my trauma and anxiety. I had two more dogs later in life, a shih tsu and a beagle mix. All three were great dogs. The last one came from a shelter. One thing to keep in mind is that dogs have personalities. If you are getting a dog from a shelter you’ll need to feel out who matches you.

I still have massive anxiety around large dogs, especially pit bulls or any of the Police favorite breeds. Only you will really know if you are ready, but this is just me telling you it is possible to not be afraid of smaller dogs and own one, while still being afraid of larger ones. In terms of being a dog magnet, just cross the street if you can while walking the dog.

As someone who was in the childcare field for 6yrs, I was around many people who did not want to be around children and probably should not be employed there. This sounds like one of those people.