Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
I’ve been a bit hesitant to post this as we seem to live in a society where saying you’re not keen on dogs is viewed on the same level as saying you enjoy burning children’s Christmas presents, but here goes.
I’ve always been very wary around dogs, and have never understood the growing fascination with owning/taking pictures of/talking about them. It’s not a fear as such - I just don’t really get it and I find them unpredictable. Particularly when their owners have them off the lead, and think shouting “It’s okay - he’s harmless!” as their four-legged friend bounds up to you is a substitute for being in control. This is exacerbated by the fact that I like running, and whenever I’m running towards someone walking a dog off the lead I automatically get anxious because I don’t know if it will keep calm or suddenly bolt and get under my feet as I run past. I even under up slowing down as I approach these situations as it causes me to hesitate!
I always just figured I was a bit miserable, but in the light of my ASD diagnosis I thought I’d put it out there to see if anyone felt similar? I see a lot about autistic people having a love of animals but not too much of the opposite, so I don’t have high hopes!
I’m very much a dog person, more so than a people person. I don’t find dogs unpredictable at all, in fact they are far more predictable than humans. But I know how to read a dog and understand the ladder of behaviour. Dogs that bark are scared, that is their way of communicating that they are not happy. I hate dogs that bark all the time, but a good owner will make sure their dog doesn’t need to get to the barking stage. Dogs are so accepting of people and offer unconditional love. They don’t care what you look like and don’t judge you. They are always happy to see you. People that don’t like dogs start to act weird, dogs don’t understand why the person is acting weird and themselves start to feel nervous. They don’t like change unless it is gradually introduced. I’d much rather live on an island full of dogs than an island full of people. It makes me sad so many of you here don’t like dogs.
Unfortunately my experience is that most dog owners don’t understand or train their dog, my neighbours being prime examples, right now they are out with dog left alone barking and barking and barking, I’ve never seen them walk it and they just let it crap all over their yard, it’s going to stink come summer. Of course it’s wrong to generalise from this specific but it is very typical of my experiences.
On the flip side I have one friend who is very responsible, trained her dog incredibly well and has set up a business as a dog trainer. Nevertheless visiting her was hugely unpleasant for me from a sensory perspective, the house always smelt of dog (she didn’t notice it but it assailed me), and the sweet thing, affectionate as you say, always came to me, tongue out, sniffing, slobbering, it couldn’t help it and I know meant well but I couldn’t ever handle it so I stopped visiting her
An island full of dogs would be pure hell for me, sorry