Cynophobia of Dogs

How Do You Know If You Are Cynophobic

There is a difference between preferring cats to dogs and being flat out terrified of
the latter. Not everyone with dog fears is truly cynophobic. Make sure you take
my anxiety test to get an idea of the severity of your anxiety. The following
symptoms are what causes a person to be diagnosed with a phobia.
Excessive and Unreasonable Fear In someone with an
excessive and unreasonable fear of dogs, dogs dont even have to be
present for that person to experience panic, because even the
anticipation of the presence of dogs can set it off for example, going
to a place where you know dogs could be present. Additionally, the
dog need not be menacing or posing any actual threat for the fear
response to be present.
Exposure to Dogs Almost Always Causes Intense Anxiety Every time a dog appears or almost every time, the person will
experience an immediate anxiety reaction. This anxiety reaction often
takes the form of a panic attack, whose symptoms are detailed below.
Recognition that Fear is Excessive Adult cynophobes will
usually recognize that their fear of dogs is unrealistic and excessive,
though the recognition of this fact will not keep them from feeling it.
In children, this recognition is less likely.
Avoidance of Dogs People with cynophobia avoid dogs
whenever possible and will go out of their way to do so. The perceived
need to avoid dogs may interfere with the persons daily functioning.

What Causes a Fear of Canines?

Three main possibilities exist as to why a person may be afraid of dogs. As with
most specific phobias, cynophobia is most likely to develop during childhood, often
between the ages of 10 and 13.
Firstly, they may have had a personal encounter with a dog that ended badly. For
example, being bitten, chased, or otherwise frightened or threatened.
Secondly, they may have witnessed another person being bitten, chased, or
otherwise threatened by a dog. When this person is a relative or a close friend, and
if the person is physically harmed, the experience is particularly likely to cause a
phobic attitude towards dogs in the future.
Thirdly, they may have learned their behavior indirectlyfrom a cynophobic parent,
or from the media.

These causes assume that the person did not spend a large amount of time
around dogs growing up and avoided dogs in general after the incident. People
who do spend time around dogs and do not (or cannot) avoid them are less likely
to develop a phobia.
However, it should be noted that some people fear canines without having had any
of the above experiences. To explain these people, and to suggest a deeper
underlying cause of cynophobia, evolutionary psychologists have come up with
their own theory.
Evolutionary psychology holds that a fear of dogs evolved in humans as a survival
mechanism. Learning to fear and to avoid large predators would have been of use
to humans in the days when wild, dangerous and hungry animals were
commonplace. This branch of psychology suggests that cynophobia is a
combination of genetic and experiential factors.

How to Cure Cynophobia

Learning that most dogs are all bark and no bite can be a hard lesson for a
cynophobe to learn. However, there are techniques for overcoming the fear of
mans best, though sometimes worst-trained, friend.
CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, is the type of therapy most often used in
treating cynophobia. CBT involves several treatment methods that you can
recreate for yourself even outside a therapeutic setting. These methods include:

Exposure Therapy Exposure therapy involves spending time

in the presence of the object of your fear, or dogs, in the case of
cynophobia. This technique is used to retrain the brain, teaching it
that in general, dogs are harmless and do not merit an intense fear
reaction. With repeated exposures, the brain becomes more and more
accustomed to relaxing in the presence of dogs. If you are performing
exposure therapy on yourself, be sure to choose a dog that is
extremely friendly and well-trained. Puppies, though cute, may also be
untrained and have a tendency to nip, and the last thing you want to
do is have another bad experience with a dog.
Cognitive Restructuring - Cognitive restructuring requires you,
and a therapist, if they are involved, to do some psychological digging
to uncover what negative underlying beliefs and thought patterns are
influencing and aggravating your fear of dogs. Once you have
identified these, either in conversation with a therapist or by spending
some time writing or questioning yourself about your fears, you can
work on changing these beliefs and thought patterns, and/or replacing
them with more positive and useful ones.

Relaxation Training - Relaxation training can help you to learn

to control your fears by way of useful methods of relaxation such as
visualization exercises, controlled breathing routines and positive
mantras to help you remember how and why you will be able to stay
calm. Joining a meditation group is an excellent way to receive
relaxation training outside of therapy.
Dogs are pretty much everywherein 2003 it was estimated that in the U.S. alone
there were over 62 million of them. This, if nothing else, is a reason to get to work
on overcoming your cynophobia today.
I have helped many people overcome their fear of dogs. Start with my free 7
minute anxiety test to learn more about your anxiety and find out how to
successfully cure it.