Overcoming a Fear of Dogs

When I was 5, some lady's house dog ran up and bit me in the shin. I still remember she invited me inside, put some disinfectant on it, and gave me a tootsie roll. But I suffered a fear of dogs until I was in my early 20's because of that.

I overcame this fear in an odd way.

Whenever I went to my friend's house, we would smoke pot, then he would leave me alone in the room for extended periods of time with his Doberman pincher. The dog would stare at me and grin. I would get paranoid and think the dog was laughing at me, as it was about it bite my throat.

But I associated being stoned (a pleasant experience) with dogs, and I overcame my phobia.

My friend also had a cat. One day, a bunch of guys were over his house smoking pot. One of them abused the cat by picking him up and throwing him down. I yelled at him and cussed him out. He sat down and said, "I hate cats," and he kind of cried a little. I never saw him before or after this pot party. Now that I think about it, this incident makes me think that I was like the character Red from That Seventies Show when he yelled at Earl til he cried.

Anyway, the dog really seemed to like me after that. The dog liked me for standing up for the cat. Bringing T-bone steak bones over every time I visited may have helped too.