What are the usual causes of a dog phobia?

Question

Please, serious answers only.

Answer 1

Getting bit

Answer 2

It can be conceptualized as a two-step process. First, a bad experience is associated with a dog. For example, being bitten, being chased and barked at by a particular dog. A less direct experience could be being spooked by stories told by others or witnessing what happened to others. A single case could be generalized in one's mind, so that every single dog triggers symptoms of fear.

Then, avoiding dogs aggravates the situation. Since avoiding dogs relieves the fear, the fear is reinforced. Because avoidance does not give opportunities of better interactions with dogs, the fear is not extinguished. Dogs are seen only in the light of fear (An irrational, intense fear-for-one's-life). People with such a phobia might never see, for example, that dogs can be cute, good companions, smart, lovable, or even just neutral.

So, a common treatment is exposure. More experience with dogs (even a virtual image or a toy at first) means better chances of really addressing the fear.

Answer 3

What causes dog phobia?

It may be that you developed a fear of dogs through a past experience with dogs. Maybe one particular one scared you and now your unconscious mind has come to associate all dogs with threat and fear. On the other hand, you may have no idea why you are scared of dogs - one particularly phobic client got their phobia from watching a news report about a dog attack when they were young.

This is what the unconscious mind does so well. It over-generalises one experience to fit all experiences - tarring all dogs with the same brush!
Hope this site helps. :-)

Answer 4

Mean-a$$ dogs.

Answer 5

bein bitten by a dog when you're a child is one