How to Get Over a Fear of Dogs

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Johnson]Trevor Johnson
Dogs are supposed to be man's best friend. But that doesn't stop them from being scary at times -- after all, one of their functions as our best friend is to protect us from things. So they can bare their teeth, bark like a four legged burglar alarm and generally be aggressive if they need to be. What can you do if you have a fear of dogs?
Find a friendly dog to train yourself with
In much the same way as Caspar is a friendly ghost, there are friendly dogs who you can practice your skills on and start ot wean yourself off the fear you have of our canine friends.
Generally speaking, dogs don't have the canine equivalent of small man syndrome, so the smaller dogs are often the best place to start this.
Find one of your friends who has a dog that's generally friendly - one that is good with children is an excellent start - and see how you get on.
Start by being in the same house as the dog. Maybe with the doors closed so that there's no immediate risk of an encounter with your four legged foe.
Then move up to the dog being in the same room as you, but on a lead that's firmly held by their owner. So long as you've chosen the "correct" dog, there should be no bared teeth or growls. Just a tentative wag of a tail which will show you that the furry creature isn't all bad.
After that, see whether you can bring yourself to actually touch the dog. Bring your hand slowly up to it, so that the dog can sniff you (that's what dogs do on a regular basis - their sense of smell is acute).
There's a chance that at this stage the dog will try to lick your hand - that's fine. Allow this to happen, rather than instinctively recoiling from this friendly advance.
Finally, see whether you can bring yourself to stroke the dog you've met. If it helps, think of it as a live, warm, cuddly toy that will interact with you. There's a good chance that the dog you used to be scared of will react well to this - a lack of growling is a good indication, tail wagging is another one (although some dogs can confuse you by growling or barking and wagging their tail at the same time!)
Think about hypnosis
Helping you to conquer your fear of dogs is one of the things that hypnosis does well.
If you've tried the first approach but still can't stand to be in the same room as a dog, let along pet one, then it's time to get your rational mind out of the equation and that's the kind of thing that hypnosis does naturally.
Listening to a hypnosis download is discrete - there's no need to tell anyone what you're doing - and the track will work with your subconscious mind to change how you react to an encounter with a dog. This is a simple process and doesn't need anything more from you than listening to the hypnosis MP3 and letting it work its magic.
Get a [http://hypnosisabc.com/dog-phobia/]hypnosis for fear of dogs download and find out how to [http://hypnosisabc.com/dog-phobia/]overcome your fear of dogs.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Get-Over-a-Fear-of-Dogs&id=6485022] How to Get Over a Fear of Dogs