You may have had a bad personal experience with one or more dogs in the past. You may have been scared, cornered or even bitten by a dog, and now that’s the only memory of dogs you have. Encountering a dog now may bring about the same feelings you had during that bad experience, making you scared of dogs in all circumstances. You may have been inadvertently taught to be afraid of dogs by someone else, such as your parents. Maybe when growing up your mom always talked negatively about dogs, or told you stories about people she knew who had been attacked by dogs. The fears she had, essentially, transferred to you. You wouldn’t have known any differently and grew up assuming dogs were terrible and you should therefore be afraid of them. It might even be possible that this anxiety is related to a disorder that you inherited genetically from your family. You may have witnessed something bad happen to someone because of a dog. You might have seen someone attacked and injured, or you might even seen a movie about dogs at an impressionable age. This event, whether fictional or real, may have caused you to develop a fear of dogs even though nothing ever happened to you personally. [3] X Research source
Feeling an imminent sense of danger. Feeling the need to escape or flee. Heart racing, sweating, trembling or shaking, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, or chills. Feeling like what is happening is unreal. Feeling like you’re losing control or going crazy. Feeling like you might die.
Do you avoid hanging out with specific people because they have a dog? Do you change your route specifically to avoid a house or neighborhood that has a dog? Do you avoid speaking to certain people because they talk about their dogs?
Consider writing about your fear in a journal. Write down specific past memories that you have about dogs, and how you felt during those experiences. Learn relaxation and meditation techniques to help keep your calm and help control your anxiety. Break your fear into smaller sections to overcome; don’t think you need to tackle the whole thing all in one go. [6] X Research source Have faith in yourself that you will get over your fear of dogs and accept any mistakes you make along the way.
Consider searching for a therapist in your area using the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s (ADAA) website at https://members. adaa. org/page/FATMain. Enter your zip code to find a list of therapists near where you live. The list of therapists provided will include which disorders each therapist specializes in so you can select someone who specializes in specific phobias or cynophobia.
It is important to go into cognitive restructuring with an open and willing mind. You need to accept the fact that your fear is probably not based on rational thought, and as such, means that you can train yourself to think differently. If you go into this type of treatment pessimistically or with the belief that you’re being completely reasonable in your fears, you will make the process much harder to overcome. [8] X Research source
This is also a chance for you and your therapist to determine if there is an underlying medical or mental condition that may be exacerbating your phobia. Underlying causes may be an anxiety disorder, depression, or maybe even a specific, yet unrelated, event that started the phobia. This is a great place to start a journal where you can record all the information about your fear of dogs that may be helpful for future therapy and analysis. Use your journal to record each event you can remember, and anything you can remember happening leading up to that event.
Continue writing your memories and thoughts in your journal. At this point start recording the reasons why you think the events triggered your fear. Write down as many of your beliefs as you can remember. Analyze your beliefs and thoughts to determine if they include any of the following:[11] X Research source All or Nothing — do you view ALL dogs as bad, no matter what? Or do you categorize dogs differently depending on some type of feature? E. g. ”I can’t be friends with anyone who has a dog. ” Should, Must, Ought — do you see a dog and automatically assume you have to be afraid of it? Do you feel like you have no other choice in the matter? E. g. ”My mom said I should never trust a dog. ” Overgeneralizing — have you tried to overcome your fear before and weren’t able to, and now you assume you’ll never be able to overcome your fear of dogs? E. g. ”I tried to be near dogs before and it didn’t work. I have no choice but to be afraid of dogs. ” Mental Filter — do you automatically draw conclusions about dogs based only on one or two previous experiences with dogs? E. g. “That dog attacked me when I was 3, all dogs are bad and will attack people if they get the chance. ” Discounting the Positive — do you ignore something good that happened because you can’t believe it’ll happen again? E. g. ”Sure, I was able to sit beside that one dog, but he was old and sick and didn’t look like he could walk, let alone attack me. ” Jumping to Conclusions — do you see or hear a dog and automatically draw a conclusion about what’s going to happen? E. g. ”That’s a pit bull, they’re awful and nasty dogs that can’t be trained properly. ”
Continue writing in your journal. At this stage you’ll want to include your reactions (both internally and externally) to the events that triggered your fear, and the beliefs that contributed to that fear. Examples of reactions might be: You were walking down your street and encountered a dog in the yard of a specific home. Afterwards you never walked down that street again. Your neighbour has a dog that they let into the backyard to play, so you never go in your own backyard in case your neighbour’s dog is outside. You refuse to go to a friend’s house because they got a dog, and you can’t hang out with them if they bring the dog along.
Use your journal to write down each of your beliefs and the associated evidence you have as to why that belief is reasonable and rational. If you’re a really logical person, can you find any scientific proof to back up your beliefs? For example, you have the belief that all dogs are going to attack you no matter what. Why do you think this is true? Have you been attacked by every single dog you’ve ever encountered? Does everyone else get attacked by every dog they encounter? Why would people own dogs as pets if they were constantly attacked?
While this may sound easy, this is going to be the hardest step in your process to overcome your fear of dogs. Our beliefs can be entrenched in our minds so deeply that it can take some time (and convincing) that they make no sense. After all, your irrational beliefs may have helped you avoid bad situations, so what’s wrong with them? For example, you have a belief that all dogs attack. You weren’t able to find any evidence to back up that belief, so why do you have it? Maybe your belief is based on the fact that you saw a movie when you were 7 (that you shouldn’t have watched) that had dogs attacking and killing people. After you watched that movie you started to fear dogs based on the assumption that the movie was 100% accurate. In reality, it was just a movie, and there was no truth to it and if you think about it, you’ve never actually seen a dog attack anyone.
First, you need to learn how to relax when your fear or anxiety occurs so you don’t set yourself back. Second, you need to gradually expose yourself to dogs (in different ways) until you can feel relaxed when they’re around.
Autogenic relaxation is a technique where you use visual images and body awareness, while repeating words or terms, to help relax and reduce muscle tension. Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique where you tense and relax each muscle in your body in order to get a sense of what each one feels like in both a tense and relaxed state. Visualization is a technique where you visualize specific settings that make you feel relaxed and calm (i. e. forest, beach with waves, etc. ). Deep breathing is a technique where you purposely breathe deeply from your abdomen in order to release tension and reverse hyperventilation. [15] X Trustworthy Source HelpGuide Nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, evidence-based mental health and wellness resources. Go to source Biofeedback is a technique where you learn to control each of your body’s functions, like your heart rate or breathing. [16] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world’s leading hospitals Go to source
Sit or stand somewhere where you’re comfortable and keep your back straight. Put one of your hands on your chest and put your other hand on your stomach. Take one slow deep breath in through your nose while counting to four. The hand on your stomach will rise while the hand on your chest shouldn’t move very much. Hold your breath while counting to seven. Exhale through your mouth while you count to eight. Push out as much air as you can using your abdominal muscles. This means the hand on your stomach should move downwards, and the hand on your chest shouldn’t move very much. Repeat these steps until you feel calmer and relaxed.
Find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably with your eyes closed. Remove your shoes. Allow your body to go as loose as you can and take 5 deep breaths. Select a specific muscle group to begin with (i. e. your left foot) and focus on those muscles. Work each of these muscles groups: individual feet; lower leg and foot; entire leg; individual hands; entire arm; buttocks; stomach; chest; neck and shoulders; mouth; eyes; and forehead. Take one slow, deep breath while tensing the muscles you’ve selected for 5 seconds. Make sure you can feel the tension in your muscles before you move on. Allow all the tension to leave the muscles you’ve selected while exhaling. Pay close attention to how these muscles feels when tense and when relaxed. Stay relaxed for 15 seconds, then select another muscle group and repeat the same steps.
Guided visualization recordings will provide the instructions on how to prepare yourself and what to do. They will also vary in length, so you can select the ones that work best for you.
Your plan should be customized for your particular type of fears, and the fearful situations you personally experience. The list should be written in order of least fearful to most fearful so you work your way up to conquering your most fearful situation. An example of a plan to overcome your fear of dogs is as follows: Step 1 - draw a dog on a piece of paper. Step 2 - read about dogs. Step 3 - look at photos of dogs. Step 4 - look at videos of dogs. Step 5 - look at dogs through a closed window. Step 6 - look at dogs through a partially opened window. Step 7 - look at dogs through an open window. Step 8 - look at dogs through a doorway. Step 9 - look at dogs from outside the doorway. Step 10 - look at a dog (who is on a leash) in the next room. Step 11 - look at a dog (who is on a leash) in the same room. Step 12 - sit beside a dog. Step 13 - pet a dog.
The anxiety distress scale can also help you decide when it’s time for you to move to the next step of your exposure plan. Be patient and take your time. Don’t move to the next step too quickly. [21] X Research source
It is not a good idea to use a puppy, even if you think they’re cuter and not as violent. Puppies are not well-trained and can be quite unpredictable. This can cause them to do something unexpected in your presence which may only exacerbate your fear. Eventually, if you’re able to, have your friend teach you basic commands for the dog so you can control the dog yourself. Being in control of the dog may further help you to alleviate your fears once you realize you have the ability to direct their actions.
Use your journal to keep track of your progress. Write down each attempt you make and how it went. Rate your level of anxiety and fear before and after each attempt. Remember that your exposure to dogs should be planned, prolonged and repeated. Don’t feel you need to rush. Take your time on each step of your plan until you feel comfortable moving onto the next step. If you start getting anxious, take a deep breath and stay connected to the present moment. Don’t get caught up in either the past or the future. [24] X Expert Source Evan Parks, PsyDLicensed Clinical Psychologist Expert Interview. 26 October 2021.
