Dislike of dogs

I detest almost all dogs too. This stems from bad childhood interactions including being attacked by one twice, and my nana’s hideous angry nasty Jack Russell. But it’s beyond that too - they smell (as always do their owner’s houses), they drool, and the boy dog’s do disgusting things with their tackle. Then there’s my neighbour’s who have a loud barky Staffie cross thing which winds me up and up and up. Ok part, even a lot of this is down to poor or non existent training by humans but at the end of the day it’s the dog which is the source of noise/smell/aggression. With only one exception I don’t have friends or people in my life with dogs, their choice to have 5hem mine not to have these people. This is just how it is for me and I know others feel different but the question was posed and this is my answer. 

Owning a dog=carrying dog faeces in a bag. 

I dunno….I mean as long you’re not wishing (in which case I’d suggest therapy) or actually inflicting (legal intervention) harm on the little beasties;to each there own. No one else knows what lurks in peoples past’s or genes. 

The only thing that would stress me out more is a bluebottle or wasp or something getting into the house. All that chaotic richocheting and sounding aggressively loud fills me with a terror that I know I should be embarrassed about, but at 45 I'm still unable to deal with. I've spend hours locked in one small room while a fly 1/500th my size takes charge of the rest of my house. I'm very careful to try never to let anything fly in. Windows can be opened only a fraction, the front door can never be left open for longer than it takes to step through it. 

No offence at all, your post made me smile actually - your description of encountering dogs while cycling in the 80's was brilliant!  And even though I love dogs I also wash my hands as soon as they get licked

I feel calm around pets because an animal simply doesn't care that I can't make small talk and they won't judge me for stimming or being awkward so I feel like I can unmask around them. But the replies in this thread are really interesting to me because I never thought about how the unpredictability of dogs could cause stress to an autistic person but it makes total sense.

I've heard it said that all cats are autistic.

I hope none of what I said below offended, CR. I think it's lovely that you have that affinity, and I slightly regret my comic exaggeration lest it inadvertently hurt anyone's feelings. Obviously people used to dogs and that slight dog smell in a home find it a nice thing. I think they are also sensitive to people's moods, so when I come in all sketchy with fight or flight it makes them a bit wild. If I could be more centred when in a room with one, they'd probably chill out quicker. 

I agree. Same with horses. In fact, any obviously unpredictable animal near me.

I love nearly all cats, they are usually gentle, sensitive and calm. Same as the people I like the most I'd say

I personally love dogs! If treated well and loved by their owners they can be wonderful pets. Sadly they're often used and abused by a lot of people. I've had my dog for 9 years now. She's such a sweetie. Even now she loves galloping through the grass. She's excellent with people, never aggressive and only off the lead when appropriate when we're out. 

I like dogs and have one of my own. What I don't like is owners who let their dogs off the lead with no training, because I find both owner and dog to be unpredictable, and that's a bit scary to me. I also find the bark on some little dogs to be really grating and sometimes quite painful.

I have a greyhound myself- he's quiet and gentle and likes his routines as much as I like mine. Obviously he is pretty big though so I don't expect anyone who's wary of dogs to come up and give him a cuddle!

But maybe a wee cat, one day. They are clean, and even tempered, and mostly calm and relaxed

We never had a pet at home (well, a goldfish and later a hamster) but not one of the big two. I'm definitely more of a cat person if I had to choose.

I'm less easily scared by them than I was. It's been a journey. As a child of the 80s, I was raised in a time when feral dogs roamed the streets without any owner supervision. You'd turn a corner on your bike and come face to face with the hound of the Baskervilles. Or a ferocious pitbull. Then you'd drop your bike and sprint for your life. But they'd chase you down and what felt like an attempted mauling would ensue. If you were lucky, an adult or the owner would casually call out 'he's just playing with you' while the mauling continued, and then maybe thirty seconds later might go, 'Spike, heel' or whatever and show some mercy. 

I've always found most houses with dogs in impossible to relax in. Unless it's some wee snuffly quiet small thing - a... are they called Westies? There's one opposite my house and she stands up at the gate when you pass and she is a cute wee thing but I'm still kind of glad that I don't have to deal with the confusing mayhem of her being my side of the wall. 

When I was about six years old, I was in Co. Wicklow with my parents, on a walk through a big estate called Avondale. We were just about here......when over that hill came the thunderous and baying swarm of a pack of hounds and some fox-hunters on thundering horses. My mother's own fear of dogs transmitted itself to me in a massive spike of shared adrenaline and we all jumped up on this stone monument thing (just out of frame) while these ravenous beasts roared past in a big pack, surging round the monumnet and onward in pursuit of their no doubt terrified quarry. 

Anyway, that didn't help I'd say.

I occasionally visit two friends of mine (a married couple) in their lovely house. They have a dog - a cockapoo or something - and even though it's less hyper than their previous one, I still get really tense, waiting for him to bound in from the hall, rear up on me, bark unexpectedly, chew my shoe laces etc. The whole time I try to convey that I'm OK with it, and I know he's just excited by new company - I  should be honoured. So there's a guilt factor as well - it's like extra extra masking and I'm exhausted when I get home - a coiled spring of unreleased tension. One time the dog licked my hand while we were having pizza. I had to go into the kitchen to wash my hands, but it probably seemed really rude. there's just no way I could carry on eating with saliava hands. And that dog small gets into everything. All fabrics. I can still smell it on me until I get home, take a bath, and wash my clothes. 

And yet... I see how much pleasure and unconditional love he gives them. And I know I'm the one who's not quite right in the head about it. Or rather, I can see it in my philosophy, but could never do the lived experience. Hygeine and calm are too important to me. 

I absolutely adore dogs and all animals (I'm one of those autistics who prefers them to people) but I completely understand that some people are wary of them! Someone might have a phobia or just general anxiety around certain animals and all pet owners should be considerate of that.

Me and dogs are in complete agreement.  We both dislike and mistrust each other.  I'm a cat  person.

I don't really like dogs. I've been on the receiving end of aggression from them a couple of times. One even tried to bite me, although thankfully just ended up with a mouthful of trouser. I can admire them sometimes from a distance, but I'm always surprised that so many autistics seem to think them preferable to humans. I've spent years studying humans "in the field" (so to speak). I don't claim to be an expert, but I have some understanding of what humans do in different situations. I can't predict what dogs will do at all. Humans don't usually come up to me, block the way, and bark at me, or bite my legs. Dogs do!

As for dog owners -- don't get me started! Some seem very irresponsible. The park near me only allows dogs on a lead, and in some areas, no dogs at all. Needless to say, virtually no dogs there are on a lead and you can usually find at least one in the "no dogs allowed" area. I stopped running in that park because of this and stick to pavements instead. Even the responsible owners don't seem to realise that some people get very nervous around these predatory animals. As my sister says, "A dog is a domesticated wolf!"

Pretty much everyone in my family is at least mildly phobic of dogs, generally as a result of bad experiences. My fiancee in particular was attacked by her parents' dog (a dog purchased sight unseen during COVID, which turned out to have behavioural issues probably caused by prior abuse). She won't go near it now. We're both nervous about what will happen if we ever take a baby or toddler to stay with their grandparents.

In fairness, I should mention a dog that used to live near me that would see me walking down the road and placidly follow me down the street, much to the owner's embarrassment and my amusement. He was docile enough that I even petted him once. But he seemed to be the exception.