My good friend has a dog phobia. Unfortunately it could now affect some employment opportunities for her. Are there any tips, suggestions,websites, you could offer that might help her get past her problem?
She says she’s terrified that the dog will attack, and does not like it when they come near her/jump on her.
I’m not sure what to suggest myself. I’m also afraid of strange dogs, but I’m not afraid of friendly dogs, I’ll happily pet them and play with them. Are these types of phobias possible to overcome within a few weeks and some willpower, or is it something that takes therapy?
I don’t understand why fearing dogs should affect employment, except in the unlikely event she’s going to work for a pet store or veterinarian. However, as one who was terrified of all dogs for a good portion of my life, and am still terrified of certain dogs (aggressive, off leash outdoors), I can sympathize. No one should have to deal with a dog that jumps up at her; that’s a quite reasonable fear. Sorry I’m not much help here. It would seem to me that a safe work environment would not include unleashed dogs, anyway.
When I was a toddler, we had a german shepherd named Barney, which nipped at me*. As a result, for the next few years, I was deathly afraid of dogs… ANY dogs… even tiny little cute things had me clinging to my parents for protection.
When I was about 8, my parents decided it was time to break me of that fear, so they went to the SPCA and picked out a 6-month old Pomeranian mix named Pokey. When they got her home, she had me sitting on the back of the sofa, in sheer terror, until she got used to the house and settled down. I slowly gathered enough nerve to cautiously approach her and pet her. By the end of that first evening, she and I were inseparable!
Now, I rarely ever get worried by a dog, unless it’s actively aggressive and I can’t read its intentions.
*Because my parents could no longer trust him around me, he had to be put down.
S^G
p.s.:On the weekend, my gf and I are moving into our new house, and getting a puppy!!
Exposure. Suggest she visit local puppy mills or grooming parlors to get a feel for well-trained toy breeds. When she’s ready she can visit a dog shelter, where it will be just as safe as a groomer’s but infinitely more chaotic. Over time she will realize that there are many things other than dogs to fear.
An old friend of mine went from running to the corner at the sight of a Doberman to breeding and raising your friend’s worst nightmare, the Ovtcharka(known to Americans as the Caucasian Shepherd). Even I went a bit weak in the knees when his largest sire lumbered up to me, only to give me a big wet kiss on the forehead(extremely unusual for this aloof breed).
As** MLS** said, nobody should have to deal with a dog that jumps on them. I used to not like dogs, either, because they always put both paws on me. IMHO, that is a result of poor training and lack of discipline. My suggestion would be to have her hang out with a mellow dog. I would venture to guess that she’s afraid the dog’s excitement could turn to aggression. With mellow dogs, the lack of excitement may provide the opportunity for her to hang out with a dog that doesn’t frighten her.
I’ve had 3 friends who were afraid of dogs (not sure to what degree) come to my house and meet my Dolly, who is one of those “mellow” dogs. She charmed the pants off them for sure. I doubt she cured any phobia, but one of the people, who was spending the night in the guest room, actually asked if I could get her to sleep on the bed with him!
Hanging out with a really nice mellow dog helps for sure, but I don’t hold it against people if they really have a true phobia. I think part of the deal with dogs, too - especially pushy dogs who want a lot of attention - is that they can tell when you are ignoring them and sometimes tend to get pushier, thus turning off the uninterested person more. I think if she spends time with non-pushy dogs and gets more relaxed around dogs, the pushy ones will be able to see the relaxation and just get bored and go away.
Maybe some information on how to read a dog’s body language would help? If she can learn to tell the difference between a happy dog and an angry or frightened one, that might go a long way toward alleviating her fear.
I was bitten by a dog as a small child, bad enough to need stitches over my eye. Oddly enough, it never gave me a dog phobia. (On the other hand, I have a serious scorpion phobia after being stung by one in the middle of the night.)
I grew up terrified of dogs. When I was a young teenager we got a springer spaniel puppy. Now I own a 70 lb pit bull mix who is huge and energetic but also always submissive and completely under my control.
I have friends who were nervous around him at first but figured out how to handle him pretty quickly, and I think they learned a lot more from him than they would have from a mellow dog. I know I certainly learned more about dogs from him than I did from the springer spaniel. So I second the “exposure” suggestion.
I’ll also suggest reading some dog books - it seems that only dog people read these books, but non-dog people can really benefit too. The Other End of the Leash and Caesar’s Way are great because they’re not about commands and training, but about how to help the reader relate to dogs in general (like reading the dog’s body language and, more importantly, using your own body language effectively). I wish I had read them long before I became a dog owner.
My husband is pretty terrified of dogs, however lots of exposure to his best friend’s absolutely Great Big Sweetheart Rottweiler went a long way toward curing him. He LOVES that dog.
If you weren’t halfway across the country, I’d suggest bringing her over.
Our dog, The Mellowest Dog In The World [sup]TM[/sup], is terrific for dog-phobics. She’s converted several to ‘some dogs are OK’ camp, and at least one now has her own rowdy Lab.
I’d recommend both exposing her to friendly, mellow dogs, and info on dog behavior. If she can recognize “play behavior”, then that probably won’t scare her anymore. Plus watching dogs gets more interesting when you can understand what they’re doing.
This will not address your questions, but it goes to show how individualistic dogs are and how they differ from each other as to temperament.
When I was about six years old, we went to live on a ranch in Calif. They had a German shepherd/coyote mix that came from the pound. He had been left in a yard as a puppy and a lot of kids on their way to school passed and teased him, threw rocks at him, etc. He was so hyper about kids and hated them so much, the owner got rid of him. He got along OK with the men on the ranch, but they cautioned my mother and me that I’d be OK if I never apprached him, never made eye contact or tried to talk to him.
Surprisingly, I understood all that, and complied. After several months, one evening I was reading a book when this dog wandered over, put his head in my lap and let me scratch his ears. After that we were inseparable (should make a good movie script, eh?). The men were all flabbergasted, but never being a threat to the dog evidently overcame his fear and the old “boy-and-a-dog” instinct took over.
I vol8unteer for Rocket Dog Rescue, which has mobile adoption fairs on a couple of designated street corners a few times a month. See if a smaller rescue society has something similar, and maybe you could go see the dogs there.
The reasons this is becoming an issue is that she is an aupair/nanny. And a lot of her prospective employers have pets. She’s turning down lucrative jobs because of this phobia, which is why I’d like to help her.
At the same time I don’t know if she is even ready to get help. When I broach the subject with her, she insists that I’m making fun of her. Maybe I shouldn’t of mentioned that one episode of Montel with the lady afraid of feathers.
Anyway, another reason that I want to help her is my own guilty consience. When I was a very young kid, maybe 7 or 8 my dad got me a dog. He was a big dog however and I was deathly afraid of him, specially since he was very jumpy and energetic. I treated the poor dog so badly. When I would come hoem from school he would recognize me and get all excited and I would leave him in the patio alone. When I fed him he would go crazy trying to get some attention and love from me while I shoved the food plate towards him and fled.
God, to this day I can remember those innocent eyes and I feel like crying, I have a dream about this dog at least once or twice a year, and I always wake up feeling guilty as hell. Poor dog to have the unlucky misfortune of getting me for an owner. Eventually my dad gave him away, hopefully he got a lot of love from another owner.
Anyway, if I can help someone get over their fear of dogs, I’ll be happy.
If you do get an extremely hairy dog, please please please for the love of Og brush them. Often. Daily. Maybe twice daily! I’ve worked for a dog groomer and working on Oliver the Newfie (awesome dog, I love him even when he drools on me) who comes in every two or three weeks is a lot of work, but working on a similar dog who doesn’t get brushed and doesn’t come in more than a couple of times a year is Sheer Hell. It’s not fun for the dog, either!
That being said, my oh my, that is quite an animal. Looks so huggable!
