Obviously we all love dogs (or we wouldn't spend so much time on the internet gushing over them and posting photographs). But I'm curious if anyone else has ever had a fear of dogs.
On a walk with my friend the other day we got charged by a very friendly, well-meaning lab cross. Intellectually, I could see that the dog didn't mean us any harm, but I could feel myself starting to panic. I yelled at it and it immediately turned and lolloped away, back to it's confused and slightly distressed owner. I apologized and explained that I am slightly afraid of dogs (to which he rolled his eyes and said something about that being my problem).
I was bitten badly as a small child by our neighbor's Corsos, but otherwise have always loved dogs...from a distance. Even with friends' dogs, I find myself extremely leery of all but a few. When I dog-sit, I don't touch unless approached, avoid eye-contact, and try my damndest not to get bitten. I jokingly tell people that I don't like dogs that don't like me. On walks or runs, even the sound of dog tags is sometimes enough to make me turn for home.
In all honesty, a few of my dad's hunting dogs used to frighten me, and even as a young adult I never entered the dog runs when others weren't home within earshot.
So the question I'm posing is: How do you feel around other dogs that aren't yours? When they surprise you? When you are relaxing together? What about after you've known them for a while? Is there a way that I can work on my (small) anxieties so that I don't offend everyone on Earth with a dog that really DOES "just want to say hi"?
On a walk with my friend the other day we got charged by a very friendly, well-meaning lab cross. Intellectually, I could see that the dog didn't mean us any harm, but I could feel myself starting to panic. I yelled at it and it immediately turned and lolloped away, back to it's confused and slightly distressed owner. I apologized and explained that I am slightly afraid of dogs (to which he rolled his eyes and said something about that being my problem).
I was bitten badly as a small child by our neighbor's Corsos, but otherwise have always loved dogs...from a distance. Even with friends' dogs, I find myself extremely leery of all but a few. When I dog-sit, I don't touch unless approached, avoid eye-contact, and try my damndest not to get bitten. I jokingly tell people that I don't like dogs that don't like me. On walks or runs, even the sound of dog tags is sometimes enough to make me turn for home.
In all honesty, a few of my dad's hunting dogs used to frighten me, and even as a young adult I never entered the dog runs when others weren't home within earshot.
So the question I'm posing is: How do you feel around other dogs that aren't yours? When they surprise you? When you are relaxing together? What about after you've known them for a while? Is there a way that I can work on my (small) anxieties so that I don't offend everyone on Earth with a dog that really DOES "just want to say hi"?