I’ve developed a phobia and I am hopeful for some doper advice on how I may rid myself of it.
In a nutshell: About a year and a half ago, when I was visiting family, I was introduced to their new, large dog. An hour into the visit, while standing with the dog calmly at my side, the dog turned her head and sunk her teeth into my thigh. I reacted by remaining perfectly still and requesting that my relative remove the dog. I cleaned my wound, the dog remained in a separate room for the remainder of my visit, and life went on. Or so I’d thought.
My very next encounter with a dog was while I was out for a run on a trail. The dog was leased, yet I reacted with an overwhelming feeling of panic and froze in place until the dog and their person passed me by. This reaction has been repeated every time since whenever I encounter a dog.
I am familiar with the use of ‘exposure’ as the preferred therapeutic approach for curing phobias, however, I do not have access to any dogs (via family or friends) that might help me with this. Do I go to a therapist for this? A dog park? (ha)
I’d like to get over having this reaction, especially because I had been hoping to get a dog of my own before the biting incident occurred. I’d also like to get back to running and even being able to park my car next to another car that has a dog in it!
Any tips?
Maybe visit a pet store that holds dog adoption days and get some time with a little pup? In my experience, those are very controlled situations with lots of volunteers around, so maybe being one-on-one with little dogs will help you relax?
Actually, a dog park could be a good idea, if the dogs are in a fenced area and you could be outside the fence, just watching. Seeing pups frolicking and having a good time might help rewire your brain. And maybe you could strike up a conversation with someone who will introduce you to a gentle dog.
A therapist could surely help also, if DYI is too scary for you.
Good luck - I’m sure you can work thru this.
If a dog park is out of the question, if you want exposure to dogs you could try a pet store; they’ll all be in cages, and they’ll all be puppies. Talk to the store owner and ask for suggestions as to how you could meet somebody with a non-aggressive dog.
I was bitten on the face by a dog when I was a toddler; I have no memory of this. However, I was terrified of dogs all my life, until I started shaving at 14 and noticed the scar for the first time. I asked my mom what that was all about, and she told me the story. That’s when I also realized that I was only scared of barking dogs… which doesn’t necessarily help much in your case, as the dog went from “just sittin’ here” straight to “biting now.” Are you sure it wasn’t a really big cat?
I disagree about the dog park idea. Dog parks are where dogs can really let themselves go. It’s an incredibly exciting place for dogs and they may be overexcited and because of that might overreact, be aggressive, paranoid, etc.
That’s a situation the OP should avoid.
Small breed puppies are a pretty safe way to go. While you may still get nipped by one, they are soooooooo cute it won’t matter.
Bubbadog
A dog that will only bite you if you happen to turn into a Cheeseburger
Thank you both for the tip to visit a pet store - I hadn’t thought of that and I will give it a try. I did pay a visit to my local animal shelter where the dogs were all enclosed in separate kennels - but that lasted about 10 seconds, as all the dogs were going bat-sh*t-crazy at the sight of a visitor. It was a bad idea. Ended up relaxing in the cat room for a couple of hours, so it wasn’t a complete waste of effort.
On a side note, I spent a number of years volunteering in an animal shelter with cats and received a number of fierce cat bites during that time - yet I never developed a fear of cats, just a great respect for them.
Agreed - for now; a visit to a dog park is probably a step I should advance to. As you say - it might be too much of a ‘spring break in Cancun atmosphere’ among the dogs there.