Published on 12, July, 2020
Dogs are noisy and smelly. I was terrified of them for most of my life, but I'm getting better now. I can uncomfortably endure an unfamiliar dog. My sister has a dog that I'm gradually getting used to after two years of infrequent exposure.
Some dogs can have a rather overpowering and unpleasant doggy odour, whilst others don't.
God that’s one of the worst things. I have two lovely friends, a married couple, and they’re on their second dog. Both dogs have had that smell. And both have been enthusiastically friendly (terrifyingly so if not used to them or needing personal space) to the point where it will climb up on me, or start chewing my shoelaces. When I get back in the car I can still smell the dog-ness on me. Only when I get home, get a bath, and take antiseptic wipes to my shoes does that finally go away. I couldn’t live with that scenario even if I did like dogs - the nose-blindness required is too big a sacrifice. As is the knowledge that their saliva would be everywhere. I sound horrible don’t I? I just find cats cleaner and with a much less overpowering scent. Maybe I’ll get one some day.
I suppose it’s partly guilt about knowing it’s kind of an honour to be liked and trusted that much by an animal. No person would ever be so overcome with excitement just to know that I exist! And yet there’s a big part of me thinking ‘please stay away - this is really stressful… and an assault on the senses’