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!

ETA: we have a family member that was badly bitten by a dog and was in hospital for a very long time, 6+ surgeries. I saw it and I’m not scared of dogs.

The sound of barking makes me jump, especially small dogs. Something about the frequency. I'm not terrified of them and haven't had any bad experiences but I am not used to dogs so (to me) dogs are not predictable. I can't tell if they are being aggressive and threatening or friendly so if a dog is heading my way I can't tell if I am safe or not.

I guess I’ve always felt more connected to dogs than people and have always been pretty good at reading them

Well that's nice for you. But the rest of humanity are not the same as you. Dogs are not a big part of everyone else's life and we are not all good at "reading" dogs and we don't all know the best or safest way to interact with them.

Maybe start from there and then use your imagination?

First of all I LOVE dogs. I have two at the present time, and had one other who sadly passed a few years ago.

I am obsessed with everything dog-related. Absolutely adore them. Even if I'm out without mine (rare) I will stop and say hello if I see one. (I never blindly approach them, as I know some dogs don't like that). I've made friends locally through chatting about our dogs.

However, I was chased by an Alsatian as a kid. Many times over some years. At school.

As a pp said, back then dogs were let loose to run wild. This Alsatian was let into our school playground by the horrible, racist owners at 8.30am every single day. It would chase kids around the playground and sometimes even get into the school. Nobody did anything. The teachers would just watch. The owners lived across the road and were always doubled over with laughter. This is maybe the mid-80s. Imagine that today! It would be all over the news.

We moved to the north from London some years ago and I said the first thing I wanted to do was get a dog as we had more space and a bigger house. I truly haven't looked back. I adore dogs. The Alsatian experience didn't put me off, though I was very wary of dogs for years.

I love dogs but surely it’s fairly obvious why people might be scared of them.
they have teeth, claws, can be jumpy, can growl and bark, can run fast, can be bigger than small children, not easy to read if you don’t know about dogs…

Because some of them are big, out of control and can do some serious damage when they bite you ?

There is also a kind of feedback loop. Dogs seem to sense when you are afraid of them, which makes them more afraid of you which makes you more afraid of them and it spirals.

I have actually stopped walking out in some places because there are too many people with badly controlled dogs and also some people with dogs that are under control (on lead) that look like there is no way they could stop them if the dog decided to go for someone.

All dogs over a certain weight should be muzzled outside unless in special dog walking areas.

I'm scared because when I was 3, I was knocked over by a dog and bitten on my face and arm. Whilst I don't remember the incident, the fear has stayed with me!

I completely agree that dogs in shops is a bit ridiculous. It’s a stressful environment for them and they’d be far happier not being there. As well as the potential of wee/poo (my young male dog would 💯 attempt to cock his leg on things if I took him into JL).

Becasue I was bitten by one when I was 3 and have never felt totally safe around them since

I am one of those people who are scared of dogs and most animals ( cat, pigs, cows, sheep etc). I think it is lack of exposure while growing up and also a sort of ‘unexplained’ phobia. I feel uncomfortable seeing dogs if they are not on the leash and often abandon walking in the park if I see too many dogs running around. I have become a bit better over the years but the fear hasn’t gone completely.

Cos they can bite and be unpredictable. It’s really very obvious OP…

Experience with aggressive dogs in your childhood makes you scared of them.

For me it's the way they jump at you and bark. Once you have had a negative experience with a violent barking dog all barking sets you on edge.

I was always scared of dogs since being chased by one as a child. I was terrified and on high alert at all times in parks or just walking down the street.

Weirdly we got a dog five years ago and I am much better now. I have learnt from walking my dog that most (not all) dogs are more interested in other dogs or sniffing the undergrowth than me!

However, I have always said that a phobia of an animal that has the potential to inflict serious harm makes much more sense than a phobia of a tiny spider.

I'm not minimising anyone's spider phobia, it just irritates me that it is often considered odd to have a very valid fear of dogs.

(I may be bitter about family members who make me seem weird for avoiding their dog when they are shrieking about a tiny insect that is nowhere near them and can't hurt them 😋)

Now to me the cat thing makes sense 🤣. I have 2 cats and they can be psychos, they’ll come to you wanting a fuss, they’ll be purring away and then the next thing they’re clawing your hand to shreds.

They are unpredictable and jump up at you with sharp claws. (I've got a condition that makes any scratches slow to heal and more likely to happen) Many owners are shite and don't have their dog under control. Then you are scared of all of them.

I agree that things have got a lot more intense in recent years where dogs are concerned. My first dog died in 2018 - life with him was easy, I could go for long walks and not see a soul. I didn’t get another dog until 2023 and the change is massive now, and the sheer number of dogs around make walks very stressful. I tend to take my dogs to places where you are pretty unlikely to bump into other dogs, because my two small dogs are potentially easily hurt by other dogs. Just the other day, in the arse end of nowhere, I had to physically get in between an aggressive Labrador who came bounding around the corner with no owner in sight, and immediately homed in on my tiny, young male dog, and was growling with his hackles up. I’m thinking more about the potential of my dogs or dogs in my care getting hurt, I’ve never felt threatened myself, but I guess it’s the same thing for people with a fear of dogs.

@WanderingStar26 I love dogs that I know. I grew up in a house where we had dogs. BUT, I have a fear that I cannot shake of loose dogs, particularly large dogs when I'm out walking. I have had multiple different dogs leap up at me or bark aggressively when I'm out walking on my own and I both fear it and dislike it intensely. If I don't know the dog, I don't know if it is friendly or anything about it and if it is barking at me or leaping up at me, then I feel my fear is justified, as I don't know what its intentions are. I'm also wondering what kind of shit training and shit owner it has because it shouldn't be jumping up or barking at people going about their business in a public space!

I get what you’re saying completely, although I do personally get my dogs under control whenever I see another person, with or without dogs in tow, when I’m out walking. Some owners are deluded though, I met a potential client the other day with a large breed dog who was apparently very well trained, the owner took me out to the garden to demonstrate her dog’s amazing skills. The dog didn’t listen to a word she said, was jumping up at her and kept biting her hand. But she still insisted he was very well trained 🤔

I am wary of a lot of dogs due to the following:

1. I was chased and pushed down by a dog when I was younger and that has stayed with me.

2. lots of dogs are jumpy and their owners do very little to stop it. I don’t really want dogs jumping up at me- I don’t like it and never will.

I am not wary of all dogs. I love giving well behaved ones a stroke and can see the benefits of companionship but too many people have dogs and can’t be arsed to train them properly.

because they are the only animal we are likely to encounter on a daily basis that are capable of hurting us

I would say that humans are the animal we encounter on a daily basis that is most likely to hurt us.

Also, 99.99% of dogs are entirely predictable, and give tons of warning before ever biting, and even then they mostly use reduced force.

The problem as I see it has many facets.

1. Humans have lost the ability to read the dog, and don't understand when the dog is telling the person to back off. I get this all the time. "Can I / my child say hello to your dog?" "I'd rather you didn't" "But I love dogs" - happens all the time. Meanwhile dog is showing all the signs of not wanting to have anything to do with approaching human.
2. Humans get dogs because they look cute, and expect them to ignore hundreds of years of selective breeding to accentuate certain traits. Why does my ex racing greyhound want to chase squirrels, or some such.
3. Following on from 2, Humans generally don't train their dogs, or give proper outlets for those behaviours that are either natural, or have been bred in.
4. The media highlights all the dog attacks, which are vanishingly rare. Admittedly dog ownership per capita has increased, and so has the population, QED there are more dogs. Couple this with increased instances of anxiety of people, which travels straight down the lead and into the dog, and it actually amazes me that there are not more instances of fractious behaviour. While attacks are increasing, they are doing so disproportionately lower than the increase in ownership and population. The media does not balance anything it says, and we live in a fear based society. If you don't buy this shampoo, your hair will suck, or if you don't use this beauty product, your face will fall off. It's all bullshit.
5. There is a demographic of society that wants to have a trophy dog to 'look cool', hence the rise of frankenbreeds like XL Bullies. This demographic is much less likely to train their dog in the main.

Usually because they have been attacked by dogs when young- it is not an irrational fear dogs can do you serious damage and are responsible for several deaths a year.

I would love to love dogs for their companionship, but I am a bit frightened because of a few factors:
I never grew up with them, so they are an unknown quantity to me.
I know that they can kill
The slobber and dog smelliness
The main information I have seen about dogs is news reports, dogs behaving badly type programmes.
Their unpredictability.

OP in 2024 there were nearly 32000 injuries caused by dogs. Some will have been very minor, others resulted in death.

And that's the ones the authorities know about. And excludes dog on dog attacks.

Dogs can bite, jump up, knock you over/off your bike etc.

Some owners refuse to train them and keep them under control.

I don't think it's an instinctive thing like snakes or spiders. For example, I am not worried about cats because they don't do the things above. I'm not scared of rabbits! (I am a bit wary of squirrels and swans when they have young).

I am not particularly scared of dogs anymore, I just don't like them being imposed on me everywhere. But as a child I was.

I don't' think 32,000 attacks a year in the UK is vanishingly rare.

Because I was attacked by a dog when I was 14. It had never attacked anyone before, it was totally unprovoked and unexpected. Dogs are unpredictable and can do serious harm.

We haven't had dogs. I'm not as familiar with 'reading' them as you mentioned OP, and as a non-dog-owner I don't know when I'm expected to have learnt that skill? I have basic awareness of remaining calm, not over exciting the dog etc. but fundamentally I find dogs unpredicatable and I don't enjoy that.

I am also a runner and regularly run in the nature reserve. I have lost count of the times off-lead dogs have spotted me running, got excited or something, and ran after me and jumped. It might be all fun and 'friendly' (according to their owners) but to me it feels like being chased and not being sure what they'll do when the reach me! I've had a few jump and 'playfully' (again, according to their owners) nip my coat/jumper too and kind of dangle off me. I dont have this experience with other animals, hence, I'm not overly fond of dogs and nervous if they're off lead.

Also hate the bloody barking - are they happy/sad/scared/excited?!! I don't know...and it adds to that unpredictable feeling.