Why are some people genuinely frightened of dogs?

[WanderingStar26]

Not a TAAT but kind of inspired by one.

I adore dogs, I have my own dogs, I work with dogs, and my hobby revolves around dogs. I had dogs growing up and with the very odd exception, I’ve never felt any fear towards any dog.

But I understand that some people are terrified of them, and I’m really interested to understand why? Is it an instinctive fear, which now I think about it would make sense as dogs are descended from wolves, or is it based on a past negative experience? It seems to be more children that have an obvious fear, so do people grow out of feeling scared, or just learn to conceal their fear as they get older?

I’m not talking about just not liking them, I realise dogs aren’t for everyone, but an actual fear. My dogs are tiny and not at all aggressive but I still don’t let them approach people unless the person wants them to. I’m honestly not trying to mock or judge, just genuinely intrigued to know more about this fear and whether it’s rational or irrational, and whether it’s something people can overcome. It must be hard to live with either way as dogs are everywhere!

I’ve been bitten by dogs twice.

My dad was a policeman so had been bitten by criminals' dogs multiple times when I was a child. So I have always had a wariness associated with knowing something may hurt you. I have mainly mastered it because I realise that getting het up tends to make them either excited or stressed neither of which is conducive to my goal of not getting bitten. Overall I am basically fine with dogs now but there only have to be a minority of poor owners to ensure you have bad experiences.

The other day I was sitting on the riverside reading my book and then someone's large, I would say bully style (stocky, square head, wine shoulders) came along off lead and decided to clamber all over me and it was absolutely soaking wet. And there was nothing they could do because their dog had no recall. That was pretty uncomfortable. I just stayed still and didn't move because I thought that the last thing I needed to do was piss it off but I didn't appreciate being absolutely drenched. They kept telling me it was just excited but I don't much like anything that doesn't follow instructions to have it's mouth at my head height.

I remember something from years ago that fear of snakes can come from ones order of birth in a family. The first born was expected to protect the younger siblings, so they would have to deal with the snake while warning the younger kids to "watch out".

Something like that anyway.

It might be the same with dogs. The instinct is to fear, but some people overcome that instict by having to deal with them.

I am neuro diverse. I've never liked them, but then during lockdown there was an explosion of them and they are now everywhere. They instinctively know I don't like them and seem to make a bee line for me as a result. People no longer keep them under control, allow them to jump up, with the cheery 'It's all right they are friendly.' I think that the dislike became a phobia over time. Some of them snarl, I swear they sense me distain. I don't like their smell, slobber, sudden lunging. I guess it is a sensory issue as I adore cats.

We had a family dog who was given to my sister who lost interest and I had to do all of the care and the clearing up after her, during the time I was taking exams. I was never unkind to her and I still feel guilty that I didn't love her. She was a sweetheart.

I was also knocked flat by an Old English sheepdog and was bitten by a dog and had to have a tetanus jab as a child.

I have had to work really hard to be able to tolerate them at all. I concentrate on their faces and expressions. The other day a very sweet dog approached me and I stroked it.

I was bitten by a dog when I was very young which made me terrified of them for years. I'd walk miles to avoid a dog. I have got over that fear now but I am still wary of strange dogs. The problem is that no owner seems to think their own dog would hurt anything - until it attacks a sheep or kills a child. A dog is an animal with animal instincts.

Not scared of dogs but their owners are selfish, entitled dickheads 90% of the time which makes me dislike their dogs.
I have dogs and always have done and they have never ruined someone’s picnic, broken a ball, bitten someone trying to enjoy a park or beach. I’ve lost count of times that’s been my experience because of other people’s dogs. Shitty owners dogs are a menace to the public, a little girl at my DCs school is terrified of them because some bellend owner allowed their large dog to jump on her in a pram and kept saying “she’s friendly” instead of removing it and saying sorry.
My family growing up were very poor dog owners of really feral dogs and whilst I loved them, their behaviour embarrassed me greatly. My dogs are decently trained but I’d understand that people would fear them if they’d had previous bad experiences with dogs.

Intrigued? Ok 🙄

Not all dogs are fluffy poodles on leads! There are irresponsible owners and dogs bred to be or look aggressive. And even fluffy poodles can bite.

My DS was very frightened of dogs when he was little where DD always loved them. It was definitely the unpredictability that he didn’t like. We went to a friend’s house and their dogs were well trained. They showed DS how to get the dogs to sit, stay etc and it made such a difference to his confidence. By the end of the afternoon he was playing fetch with them. Just taking the time to teach him instead of getting frustrated with him for being scared made such a difference. We had always explained what to do when a dog approached but when owners don’t train their dogs not to jump up and don’t have recall it makes very difficult for kids to learn as every dog is different.

Because they can kill people ?
Or very seriously injure people?
Because bad owners don’t control them ?

I have been bitten by one.

In my semi-rural area, dogs sometimes easily escape their own farms and run around the streets either on their own or in packs. There are also wild dogs around. I used to walk locally, but I’m too wary now - I can’t fight off large dogs, and I can’t run. I drive elsewhere to walk.

I worked in a residential group for Autistic adolescents with co-occurring learning disabilities for several years. All but one of the teenagers and pre teens were viscerally terrified of dogs. That included small dogs. The reason usually given in training and by other staff was that they are unpredictable and can bite, jump up and make sudden very loud noises. None of the young people were able to communicate their reasons really though, but they were very clearly able to communicate their fear, including by running away.

The only boy who wasn't absolutely and completely terrified of dogs adored them and always wanted to get as close as he could, which of course created it's own problems.

I don’t mind dogs but as much as people want to make them part of the family they are animals. They can be unpredictable, noisy and have sharp teeth. Their bites can cause injuries and scarring and it seems every few months there’s a story of a dog mauling someone to death. They can turn on their owners so why wouldn’t they harm a stranger? They do. There are literally thousands of dog attacks every year. Owners often find excuses for when dogs do bite too.

Owners who refuse to believe dogs can be harmful are worrying as they may not take the appropriate precautions to make sure their animal doesn’t hurt anyone.

As a kid it was because they were bigger than me (my gran's dogs used to jump up to greet me and were taller than me - I was terrified).

As an adult it's because they can kill you and there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners round my way, letting big dogs like Alsations off the lead in small parks where there are lots of kids.

I've also had dogs chase me when I'm running.

I'm not scared of small dogs but I don't find them as adorable as dog lovers do.

Autistic DD was terrified of dogs for first 15 years of her life but seems to have changed her mind about them.

i’m not terrified but I’m wary of smaller dogs than big ones. They seem more yappy and angry than big ones. Or at least when I’m out walking I notice little dogs mouthing off at big ones more often than the other way round.
i didn’t grow up with dogs and can’t read their body language very well. I just keep my
distance. Unfortunately I feel outnumbered by them more and more these days, they are getting harder to avoid!

I have been bitten a couple of times. Dogs are unpredictable, many owners don’t have them under control and cannot see be issue with their dog jumping up or otherwise coming into physical contact. You might know that “he was only playing” because you know him. I didn’t know that some random dog throwing himself at my legs is being friendly.

Dogs are unpredictable. Trained or not. I only learned recently DM was afraid of dogs because someone's 'nice' dog grabbed her arm & held it with its teeth just because she moved too quickly. DS was knocked over by a friend's horse sized dog.

I just don't trust them as if I see one wandering around I don't know if it's going to attack me or not. I go for an early morning walk & there's one house I won't go past as the dog barks & viciously throws itself at the fence.

In the list of deadliest animals, mosquitoes come top with 1 million deaths per year, followed by humans, snakes then dogs (25,000 per year).

It would seem to be perfectly rational to have a fear of dogs, especially ones you don't know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_deadliest_to_humans

This and many children have bad experiences with dogs when they are young, even a friendly dog can be pretty scary if it's jumping at a toddler. My DH was actually attacked by a dog when he was about 5 and his mum had to fight it off so he really doesn't like or trust dogs.

Well if you want to understand, think about what you are scared of.

Heights, spiders, snakes, old age - whatever. Everyone has something.

Why are you scared of it? Is it 100% rational, really?

A lot of these fears and phobias are built on survival instinct, previous bad experiences, witnessing something negative associated with the thing, or just sensory stuff.

For what it's worth, I'm not scared of dogs (I like them), but I don't think a fear of dogs is irrational. They can and do bite and attack people.

Some the people I know who are afraid of dogs have had bad bites in the past. Or they are just realistic about dog behaviour and the uselessness of many dog owners.

I'm more concerned about dogs than I used to be as there are so many more of them, badly trained, in inappropriate places. I grew up with dogs and don't have a phobia.

It is no longer unusual to see two dogs almost fighting on a bus. Or an obviously stressed dog in a busy shop, pub, cafe. Or a dog off lead under no control.

Plus it's now possible to import unknown, untrained dogs from overseas.

I think you should stop pretending not to understand @WanderingStar26

I was bitten by a small and 'friendly' dog as a small child - about 4 or 5. It wasn't awful but it did break my skin, I had to go to hospital etc. I found the whole thing very traumatic. There were also big fights between the adults over who allowed it to happen, who was at fault etc. I was terrified of dogs, like would cross the road to avoid walking passed a dog on a lead, for almost 10 years. Then a friend's mum helped my overcome it by originally keeping their very well trained and not jumpy dog on a lead but introducing me to her and then slowly getting me closer.

I was then chased by a rabid dog in Morocco in my twenties, but that's another story and thankfully it didn't bring back by fear of dogs, just rabid ones which I think everyone should be scared of.

I guess now, I'm not scared of dogs but I am wary and I feel like I slightly pretend to love my friends' dogs, I'll give them a pat or a cuddle when they greet me but I'm wary and generally happier when they leave me alone.

Imagine a 7ft tall big strong furry beast barrelling at you out of nowhere, sending you flying. While the person supposed too be in control laughs and says "hes friendly" or "he just wants to play".

Whikes are not 7ft tall... this us what it looks like to a toddler. Dogs can be bigger than them.
Dogs are the only animal where peoole find it "acceptable" for them to behave it this way. Plus the only animal where peoole think its ok to bring everywhere.

I quite like dogs. I fully understand why my DD is still wary (shes come along way in the last 10 years). I think its the owners that are idiots. (Not all owners, but a big enough percentage of them).

I think it’s a combination of people not understanding dogs, and many dog owners not training them adequately which means that the dogs often are out of their owner’s control. All of this coupled with people having become very much focussed on having their needs accommodated.

I grew up with dogs and I love them, but I can safely say that I have met many that I did not like, which was entirely down to their owners having instilled bad habits, I.e. no boundaries. It’s a bit like parents who use permissive parenting and whose children are unpleasant and a nuisance. I think this has gotten a lot worse since Covid when many people decided to get a dog at a whim and then regretted it. If your dog does not follow orders and will approach people it should not be off the lead.

We always trained ours, and they did not even let strangers touch them and would walk away if someone got into their close space. Saying that I also told parents off if their children came running up to touch my dog, because that’s how they will get bitten.

I grew up in a country where it is more common to have dogs off the lead, and they always roamed within eyesight. There were times when we’d meet someone who’d be scared but it was rare.

I’ll admit that I refused to leash my dog a few times when angry adults shouted at me demanding the dog to be put on the lead because they were scared of dogs because I was a stubborn teenager and walking my dog in a forested area that specifically allowed dogs off the lead as long as they were behaved and did not cause a nuisance, which is why it was particularly popular with dog owners as their dogs could socialise and roam.

Sorry for the long post, but your thread really intrigued me and brought back so many memories.

I got bitten by a dog when I was little, because my parents didn’t want me to be afraid they bought a dog, a little King Charles, I loved her it apparently cured any fear I had. We went on to have another spaniel and as a big animal lover if I’m walking in the park and your dog wants to say hello I’m more than happy to have a cuddle. I can completely understand why some people are frightened you don’t know that particular dog and you can’t predict what it’ll do.