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Originally Posted by Jaada  Thank you everyone for your responses. Actually answers another question I had another someone he growls at in my office who is irrationally afraid of dogs (my 1 year old yorkie is 5 pounds and 8 inches high of bouncy happiness most of the time). I don’t think I will be able to fix that one!
As for the person, he has tried to treat him but he won’t let him lick his hands, which is how Toto shows affection, and recoils when he tries. He had a dog as a teenager that he cared for so I don’t think he dislikes dogs... just thinks the fact that they will lick nearly anything is not for sharing.
I’ll see if I can work on it. The guest is not so frequent so it may take some time... Or I can just trade them in for someone Toto likes instead! |
Your coworker's fear of dogs is seen as weakness, a basic instability, by any canine near that person. Dogs, most animals, fowl, whatever, distrust weakness, try to kill it out of their gene pool, so are instinctively driven to react negatively to it, all these generations of domesticity later.
As for the guy who recoils when your baby wants to lick his hands, that rejection sends out loud signals that your dog's affection is not truly appreciated or wanted so your baby made the quick association that this person basically fears or dislikes him - or the guy would welcome the licking. (I'm not overjoyed by dogs licking, licking, licking my hands either and I totally adore them so I welcome it, yucky as it can be having a dog totally into licking my hands, and lovingly tolerate it as any dog can walk all over my heart anytime he wants! And lick as long as he likes.)
Your little guy senses what in his world is a weakness in big guy so it makes perfect sense your little guy wants to absent his proud self from anyone who generates those kinds of weird vibes. And if big guy hasn't had a dog since he was a teenager, when likely his parents brought the dog into the family, perhaps he's not really very comfortable around dogs, whether he owns up to it or not. (Most doglovers get a dog as soon as they can once they are living on their own.) And maybe that started with his own dog back then or he developed due to bad encounters with dogs, lives w/someone else who doesn't want dogs around or just "born that way". At some point in my young life, maybe born that way, for all I know, I became petrified, phobic of snakes, lizard-y things, and I hate them so badly I don't even want to change that fear - some things are just not our thing and we're good with way things are.
Only work on it if it is important to you, your dog and/or big guy. As for big guy, since he's not there very often and unless he is really into wanting to fix the way he reacts, it's hardly worth the effort. And little guy can deal with big guy in the way he has of dealing with this situation, make his excuses, gather his reading glasses, pipe and book and gallantly bow out of the scene. Dogs can be quite elegant and eloquent in their behavior at times.