When I was little I got bit by a dog, and then the dog ran off, and I had to have rabies shots. I don’t actually remember any of this but following that I was mortally afraid of dogs and hospitals.
Now, hospitals don’t care. But apparently, dogs do, and if you’re already afraid of dogs, they are just not going to like you and they’re more likely to bark at you and bite you, thereby reinforcing your fear (and maybe you’ll react badly, reinforcing their theory of your character).
In my 20s, I befriended a couple of dogs, and became much less afraid of them. I’ve owned several dogs since then. While I wouldn’t go up and pet a random dog without asking its owner, I like them generally and they seem to like me.
Horses like me, too. (I have never been afraid of horses.) I’ve often been able to coax superior compliance out of horses nobody else could deal with, and I don’t really know why, except that I expect them to do this thing, and they read my mind, and do it.
I’m allergic to cats, in an annoying way, not a life threatening one, so they love me.
Dogs love me and like the taste of me too, I was bitten a couple times but I still love them right back. I was talking to my next door neighbor when her friend came along with his doggie to stop and chat too. The doggie obviously wanted to make friends and play, but the owner was saying “stay! I said stay” while I was saying “come here boy! who’s a good boy?”
Based on how they lick me, I would say that dogs like me but not as much as they like raw ground beef, peanut butter, or dead squirrels. I have a suspicion they would like me better with catsup but they don’t seem to be really picky about it. To add to my dismay, I doubt that I’m especially bad for puppy digestion.
They do. I’ve rarely met a dog I couldn’t make friends with.
Cats seem to like me too, for reasons I cannot guess. I mostly have little to say to them beyond “Psssst-ttt! Fffsssst!” but when I’m at their houses ,they go out of their way to plop on my lap.
Companion birds of the Psittacine persuasion tend to find me interesting and amiable; I like this a lot on account of I’m a Crazy Bird Person with beaky babies of my own and hope to adopt even more someday. I try to be understanding toward the ones I meet who don’t like me–they might be strictly one-person birds, or not like strangers (or men, or white people, or longhairs), or be stressed or upset about something else altogether, or just having a bad feather day.
Most animals like me. Horses, cows, cats, dogs, pigs, goats & birds of all kinds seem to like being around me. Lizards & rodents, seem very aloof, with some exceptions.
While wary, most wild animals like me. Deer & elk herds while at first startled by my presence, after I start talking to them in my deep voice, will immediately calm down & have one or two watch me while the rest graze. I have often walked around their herds while continuing to talk to them.
When I was in grade school, I had wild ducks & geese eat out of my hand. Today, these birds will watch me as I work my way around their group talking all the way. Eagles, crows, & hawks will just fly away no matter what I do or say.
Bears are a mixed bag. Some will Ignore me after a bit of hearing my voice. Some come closer to get a look at me. I get nervous when that happens. So far none have attacked me. OTOH, If they act aggressive after hearing my voice, I get the heck out of there!
Dogs & cats especially like me. Normally aggressive dogs wag their tails & come to be petted when I come around. This often is a shock to their owners. While I have been bitten, I have made friends with most of those dogs. That took some time though.
Antisocial cats usually end up in my lap asleep. I try to be honest with cats, I tell all of them that I really do not like cats. Even with this warning, they either jump in my lap, or find some way to be at my hands height so that they can rub against my hands & purr. They are just asking to be petted! What is a fellow to do? My wife finds this funny.
I hope not with catsup - tomatoes are bad for dogs.
My dog and I meet lots of new dogs in the field, and they pretty much all like me. My dog likes new people also, but she is a golden and she got trained to like people more than other dogs.
While she likes everyone, she really loves one of our neighbors, more than even us. Our neighbor is very nice so the love is not misplaced, and she loves our dog back. But they have preferences.
The last sentence is for owners of dogs with deranged appetites, and those owners soon learn to keep Spot away from anything he could put in his mouth. OTOH, Lady only ate the ripe ones (a lady should have some taste!), so she made sure there were few left for us.
New neighbors have a Pittish thing. She always barks at me, but seems to be getting used to me. I even approached her the other evening because her barking seemed more, “Howdy, neighbor,” but her little boy ran up and her tone changed. They have a sign with a silhouette of a dog and the question, “I can reach the fence in three seconds; can you?”
Cognitive dissonance: the confusion I get when reading how dangerous pit bulls are supposed to be, and compare that to the dog my friends own. He loves me, but then he loves everyone.
As for dogs and humans liking each other, we’ve evolved, side by side, for tens of thousands of years. F’r’cryin’out loud, they’ve evolved the ability to digest starch, just like us. In turn, that humanity survived is questionable had we not dogs. They’re people.
Same here. I used to really love dogs, but now I don’t like them jumping on me, or licking me. The thought of a dog licking my face with his anus-lapping tongue and accidentally slipping me a quick frenchie makes me want to hurl.
Yes, dogs love me. They can probably sense the feeling is mutual. I have been a volunteer at my local shelter and have run a program for pit bulls there for more than 5 years. Frequently, I have had even the shyest, most fearful dogs feel comfortable with me, coming up to me and leaning against me or sitting in my lap.
Yes, dogs like me (and vice versa). But I treat them the way my father the veterinarian taught me - ignore them until they come to you, then hold out your fist and let them sniff it, don’t put up with any rude behavior like jumping on me, don’t try to pet them until they show they want me to.
Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup] doesn’t like strangers, but strangers who ignore him, don’t try to approach him, and who are not afraid when he approaches them - those he likes.
Gavin de Becker mentions in his book The Gift of Fear about people who say, after the fact, that their dog didn’t like the person who attacked them. I doubt very much that the dog is any judge of character, but de Becker says it is because the dog is reading the body language, not of the attacker but of the owner. The dog doesn’t worry about offending strangers. Thus it is useful because it gives permission (more or less) to listen to your own gut feelings, which are not always right but of which you should always be aware.
They like me way way way more than I like them. They do things to me that would get a human prison time, but apparently it’s perfectly fine, because they’re dogs. I would just have them shot for violating my personal space despite continual rejection of their interest.