A lifetime first achieved a couple of weeks back! After spending a substantial portion of my early childhood at grandpa's place, where he had a huge Alsatian, to walking to school on a route filled with dogs, having one of the puppies chase me, thereby creating in me a terror of dogs of all shapes and sizes and ages, and then beginning to overcome that fear --- I'm approaching full circle now!
For the reader who is probably blinking blankly in confusion, time for me to elaborate! The Alsatian I mentioned was a huge friendly creature. Religiously waking us up every morning, hanging around with us whenever possible, greeting us with total enthusiasm whenever we visited grandpa...... can't think of a more friendly animal than that one!
And then, the terrorist strikes! One fine day, when I was jogging back home from school after an exam, there was this pup which takes it into its head to chase me for reasons best known to it! Seeing it after me, I take off at top speed, hollering for help, and since I was near a bus stop at that time, some kind soul took pity on me and drove my tormentor away.
A few years later, when I was visiting one of friends, his dog was really mad at me for some unknown reason, and was desperate to get at me. It actually managed to break the chain and then lunged at me. Luckily I was beside a door, and managed to slam it behind me before the doggie got its teeth into me!
But the damage had been done --- ever since, I had maintained a safe distance from any dog. When visiting friends who had dogs, no amount of convincing that its a nice dog, and that the chain was strong, was enough. The dog had to be behind barred doors, before I would venture in.
Of course, I was disgusted with myself for this morbid fear, and had resolved to overcome it sooner or later. Under this scenario, one of my friends got a new pup. There was my golden chance! Went to visit her on a day the pup was taken to the vet.... Atleast he would be a little tired and sleepy, making my first step on the comeback trail that much easier.
Easier said than done! In spite of that trip to the vet, he was a bundle of energy. Slowly I worked up the courage to pet him, and stroke his silky coat. Here I was, applying the techniques I had learnt when interacting with the numerous cats at home, on a dog, with similar success :-) At long last, felt brave enough to actually pick him up in my arms. And that was a thrilling moment --- my terror was beginning to dissolve away. Still some way from feeling as comfortable with a strange dog as with a strange cat, but surely a giant step towards that!
