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Phobias.

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tania:
the thing about conquering dog fears (or fear of most animals, really, but dogs seem to be most common) is that the whole thing actually is a completely self-fulfilling prophecy. dogs can literally smell fear; they have a very acute sense of smell and are able to detect certain chemicals that other animals and people release in their sweat glands when they are afraid. unfortunately, for most predators fear is synonymous with aggression and once the dog smells this it pretty much assumes that you're going to attack it unless it attacks you first. this is why it's so common for people who love dogs and people who hate dogs to end up relating completely different stories and think the other person is a lying jerk. "dogs always attack me, they're so dumb" vs "oh i love dogs, i've never had any problems with them" etc. it's hard to control your emotions, especially if you've already had a lot of bad experiences with dogs but maybe this information will help you in the near future. i love dogs and all but they are really not smart enough to have personal grudges against people they've never met, they're just acting on their instincts.

Nodaisho:
I like dogs, animals in general like me.

Neskah:
Oh i don't hate dogs. I resent being scared. If I hate anyone it's bad dog owners. A dog is simply an animal following it's instincts, what ever they are at any given time. I don't expect it to have a human thought process. Anymore then i think telling my cat off will stop it killing birds.

I'm aware it's a fear and I very much know they can smell fear and respond to it. Thus the Panic attack when I was 11. I could not stop envisioning them smelling me and hundreds of dogs responding and going for the kill. The fact this didn't happen didn't help.

Thrillho:
I got attacked by two dogs in the space of about three weeks once. I ended up being scared to leave the house, scared to walk down my own damn road to go to school.

I built up more and more courage, etc. Honestly, whilst I'm not entirely over it (if something moves in the corner of my eye or something, I still jump like a motherfucker even if it turns out just to be a plastic bag, and the unexpected sound of a dog randomly barking scares the shit out of me), the reason I've reached the point I'm at now is because of what I believe is called aversion therapy. A mate of mine had an Alsation, that at the time was bigger than me - a big-ass motherfucker that probably could've ripped me to shreds. But it's the dopiest, soppiest thing I've ever known, it was fantastic, and aside from it managing to at one point stand on my testicles (no, really) it played a great part in helping me recover from this fear.

Basically...find the most docile dog you can, and identify with it.

imboden:
I have a fear of heights.  But its weird.  I'm ok to be out on my grandmothers balcony 11 stories up.  But put me on a zip line 2 stories up, I'm scared shitless.

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