There are no definitive answers to this topic, nor is there a certain time or span of life when it begins. Fear and its sensation are very subjective. There is no one cause; cynophobia can develop as a result of a mix of factors, and its severity might vary depending on how early it develops. According to the site, dog fear in youngsters can develop as early as age 5 or as late as age 13. If left untreated, it can endure into adulthood and is not confined to children or tweens. Adults as young as 20 years old have developed a fear of dogs, which has remained well into middle life.
Fear of dogs, like other animal phobias, is most usually developed by a terrible experience with a dog, particularly as a youngster. Children and dogs are both naturally inquisitive, and you may have been pounced on by a hyperactive puppy or barked at by a huge watchdog as you approached a fence.
Even if no real assault occurs, a huge dog can leave a lasting impact on a little child.
Reasons why people are scared of dogs:
1. Unfavorable event\Imagination
The unfavorable event did not have to immediately harm you. Many parents urge their children not to approach unfamiliar pets. A child’s vivid imagination paired with an insufficient or even incorrect understanding of canine behavior might result in a full-fledged dog fear. If a friend or family was attacked by a dog, the likelihood of acquiring cynophobia is enhanced, or if a parent had an unhealthy fear.
2. By seeing a victim:
Seeing an event occur, especially when it occurs to a close friend or family member, might be traumatizing enough to induce a lifelong phobia of dogs.
3. Hear a terrible story:
A dog’s fear might be triggered by hearing about a terrible experience. It can be as far removed from genuine canine experience as reading a newspaper story or viewing a particularly violent or scary scene in a horror film.
4. Through genetics:
Recent evolutionary psychology study suggests that a fear of dogs may be rooted in genetics and distant past. Even the calmest and most well-behaved dog may retain certain features from its distant wolf ancestors, and people may retain some atavistic fear of dogs from those wilder, pre-domestic times.
Conclusion:
A dog does not have to be enormous or even slightly violent to frighten persons suffering from cynophobia, nor does genuine pain have to be a part of their life. To minimize avoidable incidents, regardless of a dog’s size or temperament, it’s always wise to ask potential houseguests whether they’re alright around dogs and to keep canines on leash in public locations. Cynophobia is not a weakness, and it is not unreasonable to respect people’s limits when they express them.
