I was mauled by a dog when I was two and I’m not scared of them now. I love dogs. And I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who have some story about how one dog bit them once and now they are perfectly justified in hating all dogs forever and everyone with a dog must hurry away if such a person shows up.
You can’t expect the whole world to bend over backwards to accommodate your phobia, so you best get the fuck over it. You’re probably enabling your wife’s fear, and she’s most likely making it worse by screaming, cowering, attempt to rip out the dog’s throat- dogs are weirded out when people act terrified around them.
But still, I would never bring my dog to someone’s home without permission beforehand. That’s just rude.
You’ve never heard someone express surprise that their (child, wife, fat person, car, cigarette, alcohol, republican, gun, muslim) …quiet neighbor, unattended swimming pool, potato salad, what-have-you hurt someone? Those kind of comments are in every day’s newspaper.
There’s a reason dog’s are not allowed in restaurants. They’re ass-licking germ factories on a good day. On a bad day they bring in fleas, slobber all over the place and crap on the floor. And there’s a fair number of people who are afraid of dogs because they’ve been attacked by them.
Whether you own a dog or not it shouldn’t be difficult to understand why people prefer their shopping experience to exclude them. Since it’s not difficult to understand that makes the act of doing so one of passive-aggression.
Dog bites in the US 2001-2003 - 4.5 million victims per year (1.5% of the entire population)
Fear of an unknown dog, especially one whose owner has no control over it (in my experience approximately 99%), is not in any way irrational. 4.5 injuries per year could be avoided if dog owners would just behave responsibly.
So by these numbers, a given person has a 1% chance of being bitten? Those are pretty safe odds, especially since you claim 99% of dog owners have no control over their dogs whatsoever. It means that dogs under no control whatsoever are still not likely to attack humans.
I think your odds of being bitten, however, dramatically increase if you shriek and squeal and attempt to rip out the dog’s throat, which is what you said your wife does when she sees one.
I have been afraid of dogs since I before I could remember. I have been bitten several times, including once by my own dog (he was severely injured and didn’t mean it.) I have improved greatly and have owned and loved dogs, and get along with a great number of my friends and patient’s dogs.
However, I still get triggered when I encounter a large and/or aggressive dog in a place I am not expecting one, such as when I get out of my car at a retail store and a large dog starts barking and lunging at the window of the car parked next to me. Another situation I have been in is to be in a public space and suddenly confronted with a poorly trained emotional support dog who wants to bark at others and pull on the leash. Generally, my first reaction is to freeze in place for a few seconds, then leave the area with a certain amount of alacrity.
A few years ago a dog bit me on the crotch of my pants for the “crime” of walking past his owner on the sidewalk. My pants were destroyed, and my underwear had little puncture holes in them. Somehow my bits managed to come out completely unscathed. But I was messed up psychologically for the rest of the day.
If a human had done this, I would have felt comfortable charging him with assault and throwing him in jail. But he was just a dog. A dog with a bad owner, but a dog nonetheless. For all I know, I did something that triggered him. I probably should have had my guard up more than I did.
I’m okay with keeping my guard up while I’m walking the urban streets, since there are many potential dangers to look out for. But I shouldn’t have to be on guard when I’m shopping or eating. If a dog attacks me in these settings, I’m not going to be as forgiving as I might otherwise be inclined to be.
As long as dog owners are prepared to deal with the fall out if things should go awry, I’m not averse to dogs in public. But I also respect business that don’t allow them.
For me, that is: But I only patronize businesses that don’t allow them. Especially restaurants.
Okay, yes, guide dogs in uniform are allowed, but genuine guide dogs are both rare and, ime, beautifully trained not to create nuisances of themselves. The same can’t be said for random pet dogs.