There are unfortunately a number of people who have a fear of dogs or cynophobia to give it its official name. Being the dog lover that I am, I feel particularly sorry for people suffering from this phobia as they are missing out on all the joys that come with dog ownership, not least of which is the unconditional love that dogs give to humans.
So what causes people to have such a fear? There are several reasons that could apply but the most common are:
• A person may have been bitten by a dog or had a traumatic encounter with a dog earlier in life.
• Some people have experienced living in cultures where wild dogs are common place and they transfer their fear of wild dogs to domesticated dogs.
• Parents may bring up their children to fear dogs because of negative experiences they themselves have had earlier in life or through a lack of education relating to knowing dogs and their behaviours.
From a dog’s perspective, they can tell (or rather I should say smell) if someone is anxious or fearful around them. When someone is afraid, whether it be of dogs or some other aspect of life, their bodies will exude a chemical smell which dogs pick up on. Also, as dogs are experts at reading our body language, they will combine the smell with a person’s body language and gestures to determine that this person is afraid of them. No degree of body deodorant can mask the body’s smell of fear!
How can you tell if you are suffering from cynophobia? Typically, a person with cynophobia begins to experience significant dread, anxiety and worry at the thought of being exposed to a dog. Symptoms include increased heart rate, nausea, sweating, shortness of breath, shaking and crying or screaming.
So what can be done to overcome a fear of dogs?
Dr. Laurie Vitagliano, MD, chief medical officer at Northwell Health’s South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, New York, believes that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an effective way of treating cynophobia. Working with a patient to create a graded fear hierarchy, the patient might start by imaging he or she is petting a dog. As the exposure brings the person closer to the object of their fear, the person keeps an anxiety journal and writes down the situation that is causing the anxiety level on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
“For example, for someone with a severe dog phobia, a therapist may start out by exposing them to a picture or a video of a dog and then gradually over time, they would progress to perhaps a toy dog and then an actual dog”, Dr. Vitagliano says. “The time and intensity progression of the exposure will be individualized depending upon the person’s tolerance and symptom severity.”
“CBT combined with exposure therapy is very effective with cynophobia”, Dr. Vitagliano says. The behavioural part of CBT is to gradually expose the person to the feared object, in this case, dogs. “The cognitive part is looking at the person’s mistaken beliefs, where you think the dog is actually going to bite you,” Dr. Hirsch says. “We work on muscle tension. If a person is tense, then the body sends a signal to the brain that they are in danger.”
After falling off a horse, the recommendation is to get back on the horse straight away before a fear of horses kicks in. So if you experience a negative situation with a dog, try to get around another dog, preferably a well socialized, calm dog and begin to rebuild your confidence in being with a dog.
The effort you put in to overcome a fear of dogs will be rewarded in spades by our furry friends!
