Over the weekend, I got a private message from a woman who follows my collie, Desi, on his Facebook page. Well, actually, Desi got the note, I just answer all of his messages for him! Anyway, she indicated that she'd seen his posts about helping a little girl overcome her fear of dogs. She wanted to know how we'd done it and if what we'd done would work with an adult. You see, she'd been bitten as a child and was profoundly afraid of dogs in real life. She loved looking at dogs on Facebook (hence her being one of Desi's "top fans"), but she still was terrified of any dog she encountered out in public. And her fear was really isolating her more and more. The pandemic meant more people working from home and walking their dogs at all times of day which meant this woman rarely felt safe walking, even in her neighborhood, anymore.
Cynophobia, the clinical name for fear of dogs, affects 7-9% of the general population. While that might not seem like much, that's roughly 30 million people whose quality of life is affected by their fear of dogs. What that fear looks like can vary from person to person. Some people with cynophobia can't even look at pictures of dogs or watch a TV show, movie, or even a commercial where dogs are present. Others can look at pictures of dogs and watch quiet dogs on TV, but if the dog barks or growls all bets are off. And some are fine with dogs in all forms until they see them out in public spaces. This is a difficult situation since dogs are the most popular pet here in the United States and dogs are allowed to go with their humans to so many public places. For the woman who reached out to Desi, she couldn't even watch her kids' soccer games at the park on weekends because some of the parents brought their dogs along to cheer the kids on. Really a heartbreaking situation for her and for her family.
While it is fairly common for a person whose been bitten or chased by a dog to fear them, not every instance of cynophobia is due to a bad experience with a dog in the past. It is often true that phobias like fearing dogs are passed on from one person to another in a family. Perhaps your mother was chased by a dog as a child and now she projects her fear onto you about taking an abundance of caution around all dogs. This is often why children are afraid of dogs. It is also definitely the case that people with more sensitive temperaments are prone to specific fears such as cynophobia. For some adults, just reading about a serious dog bite incident is enough to trigger a fear of all dogs.
As with any panic-related episode, people experiencing cynophobia can have an increased heart rate, tightening in their chest, profuse sweating, trembling, feeling dizzy, and trouble breathing. They often feel an intense need to run away or escape; often they report feeling completely helpless and like they were going to die. Children experiencing cynophobia will often scream, cry, run, or cling to a caregiver, all of which can attract undue attention from the dog that triggered the panic to begin with.
I should point out at this juncture that I am not a trained, human psychologist or psychiatrist. What I am is someone with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Animal Behavior. As such, I have studied fears and phobias in both humans and animals. I have worked both alone and in conjunction with medical professionals to help treat cynophobia using my trained therapy dogs to desensitize people who are seeking treatment. My first collie, Cooper, was a natural at this work. He helped a half dozen children overcome their fear of dogs with repeated exposures to his calming presence and desensitization to his movements, sounds, etc. Desi is also incredibly suited to this job. He will stand completely still for an inordinate amount of time for someone to get used to his presence. When they are able to approach him, he will lay down, facing away from them, and not move at all. I truly mean that. He doesn't move at all. He doesn't pant and he doesn't move to get up. He just lays there. When they can touch him, he will allow all handling thus giving that person a chance to feel his heart beat, touch his tail, feet, etc. I encourage them to do all of those things with him as I think understanding a dog's physical nature helps to demystify the dog. Over time, we work up to me walking Desi near them and eventually the folks we've worked with get to the point where they want to walk him themselves. Desi will walk with anyone; he'll walk at a distance from you on a 15 foot leash, or closer to you on a 4-6 foot leash, whatever makes the person most comfortable. He doesn't run, he doesn't bark, and he doesn't fuss about anything he sees. Squirrels will run past him and he barely glances when he's working. This brings peace of mind to the person he is helping to overcome their fear. When they get to the point where they can give him treats, he takes them gently. And if they get to the point where they can love on him, he is thrilled, but nonetheless calm. Once Desi and I have helped someone get to the point where they trust him, we talk about how to read dog body language so that they can traverse the world where other dogs are present, confident in their abilities to understand what those dogs are communicating. I always tell them that they don't have to love every dog they meet, nor do they have to approach them or submit to being approached. What they have to do is be comfortable reading dog body language so that when and if a dog approaches them, they will know what their own body language is telling that dog. We talk about how to appear less threatening to a dog and how not to appear afraid either. We talk about what your hands should be doing, where you should look, etc. When they are ready for this step, Desi and I walk with them in dog populated public places. I always tell them that Desi is there to keep an eye on the other dogs for them. You see, that's Desi's super-power. If a dog approaches one of the people he's working with, he will calmly stand between his person and that dog, essentially body blocking the encounter. His charge feels safe and often the other dog moves away. This helps the person we are working with learn to trust dogs and trust themselves to read the situations they find themselves in. We also talk about how to speak to dog owners about their dogs, including telling owners who've let dogs off leash in on leash areas to please leash their dogs! And how to say no, I don't want to pet your dog, nor do I want to be approached. Dog owners really do need to be better about controlling their dogs out in public. It simply isn't okay to let your dog (friendly or not!) just run up to someone who is trying to walk, read their book, have a picnic, watch a soccer game, etc. It isn't okay to let your dog jump on people who are just out using the same public space that you are. While a lot of people love dogs and welcome such approaches, there are enough who don't to make such encounters incredibly risky all around.
So, my response to the woman who contacted Desi was that he and I would be happy to help her overcome her fear of dogs. Wanting to overcome it is the first step in treatment. The second is determining how severe her particular case is, and we'll go from there. Desi is ready, I know. He loves these one-on-one appointments. I know he enjoys them because he prances back inside the house afterward and straight at Ozzie almost as if to say, "I did a good thing today! You should have seen me in action!" Ozzie may not appreciate Desi's gifts, but I sure do. A dog that can help people overcome their fears is a dog I am proud to call my companion.
As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
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