Afraid of dogs? Why?

[Papa Deuce]

I am always surprised when folks who have never been bitten by a dog tell me they are afraid of them.

Can anybody help me understand?

 

[JadenLayne]

Nope I probably feel to safe around them. I love animals.

 

[ash&abby'smom]

Don't really know why, but both of my girls ages 6 & 3 are terrified of animals especially dogs. I happen to like animals. We even bought a toy poodle and ended up having to get rid of her. Neither of my kids have been bitten or really had anything happen to them to make them afraid. They just are. I keep thinking maybe they wil outgrow it?

 

[Chattyaholic]

I've never really been afraid of dogs, never been bitten by a dog but on a walk in my neighborhood once I did have an encounter with a dog that made me very, very nervous. I was more than a mile away from my home and at the time I was on coumadin (blood clotting agent) so was very fearful of getting badly bitten and not being able to stop the bleeding. This was a large dog, and he ran out into the road as I was walking by. I'd walked by this house many times, knew they had a Beagle and that dog was no problem. But this time a big, black dog was also there. I stopped walking and tried talking softly to the dog, but it just kept growling, barking and barring its teeth at me. I tried to take a step away, it would take a step towards me. I took two steps away, he took two steps toward me. My heart was pounding in my chest. Finally I got far enough away that the dog didn't continue towards me and I walked rapidly on home. Now I'm very leary of walking on different roads in my neighborhood, because of possible dogs. I have learned to take doggie treats in a baggie with me though, maybe they would help , I dunno for sure...

I'm sure that now if I came across a large dog I would think back to what happened, and be a little worried.

 

[Serena]

There are a lot of people who either aren't used to them, was frightened by them or knew someone that was seriously hurt.

When I was a traffic guard and a dog came around, stray or not. A couple of kids ran out into traffic because they were so frightened of a dog. They didn't get hurt thankfully, but fears are fears. Like spiders or planes.

 

[Anewman]

It almost always comes down to PARENTING.
I imagine that some parents just cant tell there kids what to do, so they use the old "dog will bite you" excuse. You know...

Kid wants to go outside, mom sez "NO, dont go outside there is a dog out there, it will bite you"

Those kids tend to grow up and be scared of dogs, or grow up to feel that throwing rocks at them is somehow funny.

 

[KristaTX]

I am scared of dogs, but I don't think I've been bitten. We had a "mean" one next door named Blue when I was very young. I guess it started with my being scared of him. Then later we had our own dog named Popcorn who turned mean after he got hit by a car and had to have a leg amputated. He got around on those 3 legs just fine, but he could turn mean in an instant.
In retrospect I see that he was probably just really lonely in the backyard all alone.

There's all those "Beware of Dogs" signs and such. Plus even if dogs are nice, they tend to lick and sniff. It just seems natural to me to be at least hesitant around dogs.

The thing I can't understand is people who are afraid of cats . I can understand maybe not liking them much, but being scared of them? They don't chase and attack random people like dogs do. They only attack if you come at them. And they typically aren't hidden, sneaky, and accidentally found like you might come across a snake.

 

[Papa Deuce]

The thing I can't understand is people who are afraid of cats . I can understand maybe not liking them much, but being scared of them? They don't chase and attack random people like dogs do. They only attack if you come at them. And they typically aren't hidden, sneaky, and accidentally found like you might come across a snake.

Oh no. I am not afraid of cats, but I had an ex GF, who had a cat that went NUTS on me. I petting him, and he was purring, then he went psycho on me. I really never liked cats, but now I really don't like them. I still have scars on my hands from that.

 

[Beth76]

I almost always comes down to PARENTING.
I imagine that some parents just cant tell there kids what to do, so they use the old "dog will bite you" excuse. You know...

Kid wants to go outside, mom sez "NO, dont go outside there is a dog out there, it will bite you"

Those kids tend to grow up and be scared of dogs, or grow up to feel that throwing rocks at them is somehow funny.

Huh? Where the heck do you live? I don't know people who do this.

Dogs are curious creatures and sometimes will come running up to you to sniff you. I imagine if you're not used to it or are small and don't really know about dogs that could be quite frightening.

If I come across a big dog running around without it's owner, yes it scares me. My next door neighbors have a HUGE Great Pyranees and that thing barks horribly anytime it sees someone. It could be in it's yard and see me through the window and he barks. I am afraid to be outside with that dog because even though he never has, I'm afraid he would jump the fence and attack us. Now his owners are nice people and have small children. But this dog just seems vicious to me. I could be wrong, but he definitely doesn't portray a gentle dog persona when he's outside barking at me.

 

[goofyforlife]

The thing I can't understand is people who are afraid of cats . I can understand maybe not liking them much, but being scared of them? They don't chase and attack random people like dogs do. They only attack if you come at them. And they typically aren't hidden, sneaky, and accidentally found like you might come across a snake.

You've never met the cat my Dfil has.....That thing has been mean from the day they brought it home...I think my DH has the scars to prove it.....

If you even walk near it...It will hiss and try to bite you....

I swear the thing is feral...

 

[KristaTX]

Oh no. I am not afraid of cats, but I had an ex GF, who had a cat that went NUTS on me. I petting him, and he was purring, then he went psycho on me. I really never liked cats, but now I really don't like them. I still have scars on my hands from that.

I wasn't accusing you of being afraid of cats ; it was just an observation. I was just saying that the fear of cats is even weirder than being afraid of dogs if you have never been bitten or scratched or whatever.

Hey, BTW - do you know where I can find a list of the new TV shows that have been cancelled? Not just FOX ones. I just wonder if any of the new shows I've been watching are goners yet, but I don't know where to look.

Okay - back to the animal talk . . .

 

[Papa Deuce]

I wasn't accusing you of being afraid of cats ; it was just an observation. I was just saying that the fear of cats is even weirder than being afraid of dogs if you have never been bitten or scratched or whatever.

Hey, BTW - do you know where I can find a list of the new TV shows that have been cancelled? Not just FOX ones. I just wonder if any of the new shows I've been watching are goners yet, but I don't know where to look.

Okay - back to the animal talk . . .

No, I knew you weren't. I just was saying that my experience is not like what you described.

 

[Papa Deuce]

You've never met the cat my Dfil has.....That thing has been mean from the day they brought it home...I think my DH has the scars to prove it.....

If you even walk near it...It will hiss and try to bite you....

I swear the thing is feral...

I just wanted to say I really love your Bernese in your siggy! Gorgeous!

 

[mom23boys]

Okay I'll bite (no pun intended). I am very scared of dogs. I do not like them, when they approach me, usually on a leash with the owner (like walking in the neighborhood) I really try to distance myself. I have never been bitten, just one of those things.

My oldest is afraid, but he got bit by my BFriends dog, so I can understand. The other two boys are not afraid just cautious.

My neighbor just got a puppy and asked me to take him out on his first day home, she did not know I was afraid. I said yes very very reluctently, When I opened the front door I was really scared, but here was a tiny puppy looking so cute and he really did not scare me. Now when I see him I will pet him and when he starts jumping on me I back away. After the first time I asked her to find someone else, I just could not do it. I was really freaking out about it, I could not sleep and I was very nervous about it till noon. She understood.

 

[rie'smom]

Do you think people may be afraid because dogs invade personal space-especially a friendly dog. My family loves dogs and my children were never afraid. DH's dad has show dogs (German Shepards)and he and MIL travel the world for dog shows. I thought that may be why my kids are unafraid but then BIL's children were terrified and he was a vet for thoroughbreds-go figure.

 

[KristaTX]

A big thing I just thought of would be the barking that dogs do since it can be scary from a distance. Having a big strange animal making loud and somewhat ferocious sounds when you are a kid might cause a phobia that extends into your adult life. In fact, that is likely what made me scared of dogs. There were tons of fenced-in dogs living up and down our alley that barked and barked when we walked or rode our bikes down it. It's kind of like they're saying "If I get out of this fence I am going to bite you and eat you" .

 

[Becky2005]

My DD used to be afraid of them but never got bit. HOWEVER, my in-laws had 2 Siberian Huskies and those were what I consider big dogs. My DD was terrified of them, she did get knocked over by one once but wasn't too thrilled with them before that.

I think the fact that they were HUGE to her, freaked her out.

She is now 12 and *loves* animals....she takes my son over to his friends house, not because she wants to be a good big sister but because she wants to go visit their dogs.

My 6 year old doesn't care for dogs too much...then again, he says our cat scares him but he's basically skittish/scared of anything, especially loud noises...add a barking dog in there or one that chases him and he's lost it.

 

[Va-bear]

It almost always comes down to PARENTING.
I imagine that some parents just cant tell there kids what to do, so they use the old "dog will bite you" excuse. You know...

Kid wants to go outside, mom sez "NO, dont go outside there is a dog out there, it will bite you"

Those kids tend to grow up and be scared of dogs, or grow up to feel that throwing rocks at them is somehow funny.

PARENTING can work against you too ! I have always loved loved loved dogs and wanted to instill that in my son. SO I was always letting him play around my neighbors friendly dogs. Eventually, he became VERY scared and I didnt get it ....by then he could speak and said "mom, you always let those BIG GIANT dogs run around me - they are HUGE!!" (They werent THAT big, but to a toddler...) Oh well.....many years later he's still working on getting over it......

 

[liamsaunt]

Hi Papa Duece, you don't have to be bitten have a bad dog experience. Here is one I will relate:

In my idealistic college days, some years ago, I joined an organization that would go door-to-door for solicitations for our ideal cause. This same organization had a few days of training with another person, and then sent people out alone. In very isolated, sometimes muddy, always dark areas.

I will never forget the house when I met the alpha dog. I was taking a shortcut through the front yard rather than walking up the path of this dog's house when I heard the growling. It was (I am fairly sure) a german shepard.. I heard the growling, and backed away, but it still tackled me. And I mean, it TACKLED me. I was so scared. I fell backwards, and the dog got up into my face, and snapped right at my throat...but NEVER bit me. Not even a teeth graze. It just snapped at my thoat, made some bad noises, and then backed off and gave me the chance to retreat, which, of course, I did post haste.

Anyway, that experience interfered with my dog interactions for so many years. My in-laws bought a pure-bred Akita when she was a puppy, and for years my DH would have to go in ahead of me and be the "alpha dog" to her before I could go in, otherwise she'd try to jump me--she could smell my fear. DH trained her with his voice to accept me. The funniest part of this story was when she got older, she would always come and lay in front of me because she knew once I knew she was not going to chomp me I was good for a rub, and she had arthritis!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I'm only afraid of dogs that I'd have a hard time killing...especially the ones that are part wolf. Ug.

Why afraid? Because they could hurt me.

But generally, I'm not so afraid of them as I don't like them. They're cute and all, but I can't stand it when folks let their dogs jump on me, get their hair on me, or rub their mucus-y noses on me. I don't find dog mucus from their "fur-baby" as cute as they might think.

If you know the dog jumps on people, put it outside or in the basement or something, please.