I remember when I was a little kid, I had this big fear of dogs, especially ones that liked to bark a lot when running up to you, no matter how small they were.
It scared the hell out of me, I’d panic and run away at the sight of a dog.
My mom used to tell me that dogs smell fear and that I had to try and act all cool about it so they wouldn’t bother me. But being a kid, that was all blah blah to me, how was I supposed to keep myself together while a dog was running towards me, barking their ass off and showing me their shiny teeth. Impossible.
Until one incident made me change my mind…
In Zimbabwe, for some years we lived in a penthouse on the ninth floor of a building. It was really cool, and had a great view. I also remember when Hayley’s comet passed by, all the neighbours came up to see it from our roof.
Anyway, one day when my mom and I were waiting for the elevator to go up to our place, one of the neighbours walked in with her dog. The woman was one of those snobby short-haired blondes and her dog was a small white poodle, but a nasty ferocious one, or at least that’s how I saw it then.
It was unleashed and this hairy little thing just came running at me, barking in this annoying tone. I panicked and ran for the stairs and started leaping up them like my life depended on it. By the time I got to the ninth floor, I was breathless and totally pooped out.
That day I took the decision that no dog was going to make me have to go through that again, especially not that tiny dumb one, and that I’d just have to learn how to deal with it. I started turning my mother’s words around in my head, trying to find a solution for my problem and putting a plan together.
Luckily enough, I had the gift of acting, and so my plan was to act as if I wasn’t scared of dogs and as if they weren’t even there in the first place. Pretty shaky for a plan, but hey I was just a little kid at the time and that’s the best I could come up with.
Time went by and yet again we ran into the same neighbour and her stupid dog. I panicked, but I was determined to stick to my plan. The dog, as if with pure evil in his eyes, ran up to me, barking and all, and I just stood there, about to do it in my pants, but doing my best not to show it, trying to keep up a conversation with my mother, which I’m almost sure became pretty senseless.
The dog turned around me a few times, sniffing around, like the fear detector that it is, was dissapointed, threw me a bad look from the corner of its eye, and then just shut up and left. That moment was one of ultimate victory for me, I had prevailed.
From that day on, I would never be afraid of any dog no matter how big they were, how scary they looked or how loud they barked.
And that’s mostly true, if I count out the occasional huge rabid dogs jumping at me out of nowhere on a dark night.
Lately I’ve been thinking that maybe the same approach could work with people.
Je n
I remember doing the same thing once, only it was a cocker spaniel named Brutus. He would bark like crazy and run after anyone who happened to look at him funny. He chased me a block or two one day until I turned around and barked back. Never bothered me again.
People? Let’s give it a try. Your way, I mean. My way only seems to work with dogs.
awesome story!
I always enjoy childhood stories.
I had a fear of dogs too, until I started seeing them on TV as being friendly. To this point though, I’m always scared when a dog jumps at me, even if they’re just playing
haha subzero!
tu m’as toujours cach
How do you Arabs (and other Muslim peoples) feel about dogs? I’m an American, not a Muslim, and I love dogs. I have a Doberman. I know some Arabs have a special relationship with Salukis but don’t like other breeds and consider them dirty.
Some Dobermans, and related breeds such as Rottweilers, will attack regardless of whether you were afraid of them or not. Many will attack if they feel you are threatening their terrority or their pack. Even if their ‘pack’ is their human family. They have a mentality similar to wolves. A lot of it depends on the tempermant of the individual dog and the circumstances of your encounter.
My own Doberman is pretty friendly so long as I am around to introduce him to somebody and you demonstrate by being friendly to that person that they are no threat.
As for poodles, those obnoxious animals are yappity and bad-tempered, but hardly a serious threat to life and limb! American Pit Bull Terriers on the other hand . . .
Jack, well from what I know Islam has nothing against having dogs for guarding, hunting or even as a pet. I think it just says that it’s not good to have the dog living inside the house, and that’s because of hygiene purposes.
And yeah, I do know that there are some breeds of dogs that attack upon sight, no matter if you’re scared or not, but well those usually don’t go walking around unleashed, so no problemo.
Adib, lol, well I’m not scared of dogs anymore, so you can bring all the dogs you want, I’d be totally fine.
Omar 🙂 yeah, well that whole friendly dog thingie on tv didn’t do it for me, I guess, lol. I had to stand up for myself to get the upper hand over dogs 😛
Jordan, barking at people definitely won’t work. Or would it? hmmm… interesting idea here, lol…
Dado, I understand you. But the thing is with people is that they more or less have some animal instincts deep inside of them, and when they sense any kind of fear in the person in front of them, they tend to try to use it for their advantage. So basically the way of acting that the fear doesn’t exist, does give you the upper hand.
I am glad you shared this story. I was desperately searching for ways to help my 10 year old son. He has a big fear of dogs. A week ago we were hiking and he ran off the trail to avoid a dog. I could not see my son anymore. I yelled,”stop.” But it was too late. He slipped 20 feet down a mountain, and was clinging with his hands to plants. It’s a miracle that he is okay. But he still has his fear of dogs.
Lynne
I am glad you shared this story. I was desperately searching for ways to help my 10 year old son. He has a big fear of dogs. A week ago we were hiking and he ran off the trail to avoid a dog. I could not see my son anymore. I yelled,”stop.” But it was too late. He slipped 20 feet down a mountain, and was clinging with his hands to plants. It’s a miracle that he is okay. But he still has his fear of dogs.
Lynne