Break Through Fear and Self Doubt by James Nsien II - HTML preview

Chapter 33

How to Rise Above Cynophobia

Cynophobia is extreme fear of dogs that severely affects the life of those suffering from this fear. We all know that dogs are faithful animals and considered man’s best companion. Many people keep dogs as pets as they bring immense joy and entertainment into your life. However, there are some people who suffer from acute fear of dogs. The sight of dogs makes them panic even if the dog is at a distance. Individuals suffering from cynophobia suffer from an irrational fear that starts conquering their mind, thus affecting their life negatively.

We encounter dogs almost every day in our life, and we know that all dogs are not ferocious and they do not attack people for no reason. However, cynophobics are of the opinion that any and every encounter with dogs will prove fatal for them.

The irrational fear of being attacked by dogs and the thought of that alarming situation makes them so nervous that they start to run to save their lives at the sight or the slightest woof of a dog. Such constant fear of being attacked by dog eventually intensifies with time and age; and finally they take the form of severe phobia

How to Eliminate Cynophobia From Your Mind

It may be too difficult to keep calm once a cynophobic comes across a random street dog or a pet dog; however, if you are a cynophobic you should keep in mind that dogs are pretty harmless by nature and do not intend to hurt you unless you harm them. There are various measures of getting rid of your fear of dogs.

• Try to understand a dog’s behavior. You will find many books and online sites that dwell on the behavior of dogs. Reading such books and sites are very necessary as they help you comprehend how dogs behave in different situations; what makes them happy, sad, or angry, and so on.
• Dogs normally correspond through their body. Thus, if you become accustomed to the behavior of dogs, you will find it easy to understand what the dog/ dogs is trying to convey. For instance, a dog with low tail indicates friendly gestures while thee stiff tail wag of dogs over its back implies that the dog is anxious and not willing to come closer to you.
• Watch dogs from a distance or discuss your fear with a friend who owns a dog so that he/she could enlighten you about the behavior of dogs. Once you get to know all about dogs’ behavior, and their friendly approaches, soon you will learn to overcome your fear.
• Practice meditation and deep breathing techniques to relax and conquer your fears. At the same time try practicing visualization exercises to stay calm in stressful situations.

The major cause of your fear is certain irrational thought patterns and beliefs that don’t let you live fearlessly with a free mind. Thus, it is essential to do some psychological analysis to expose those fear-causing thought patterns. The ideal way to do this is to reflect on your thought process or consult a therapist who can help you replace your pessimistic thoughts into more logical and positive thoughts.

Cynophobics can easily recover from this phobia with little patience. The ideal cure for cynophobia is to pet a dog and spend quality time with it, so that you can enjoy its company to the fullest. You will soon realize that your fear of dogs has vanished from your mind, and you may end up purchasing or adopting one.