Maybe hate is too strong a word, but they are not my favorite animal. I have come across some lovely, friendly dogs, but most just seem to want to attack me. Maybe there’s something about me that dogs hate. Cats love me though.

So, how did this all start?

The first scary dog incident in my life happened when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I don’t remember the incident. I only know about it because my mother told me.

We were waiting to cross a busy road to go to school. A dog suddenly appeared and started barking and jumped up at me. I ran across the road and was almost hit by a car.

The dog bit me

The first incident that I remember was when I was around 7 or 8 years old. A school friend was having a birthday party at his house and I was invited. I arrived at the house and a few kids were playing in the front garden. I got to the front gate and a small dog started barking at me. I hesitated for a moment. The boy’s mother came over and told me that the dog always barked but not to worry because “he never bites”.

I opened the gate, walked in, and the dog bite me on the leg.

The dog I fed chocolate to

I now know that dogs shouldn’t have chocolate, but didn’t at the time. I was a teenager. New neighbors moved into our street and they had a big dog that stood outside their house. It always barked when I walked past. It looked quite aggressive.

One day he looked like he was going to bite me. I had a bar of chocolate in my hand at the time. I cut a chunk off and threw it to the dog. He ignores me and ate the chocolate. I always carried chocolate with me after that and often threw him chunks of it. He never stopped barking at me. Luckily, we moved to another street.

The dog I liked

Here’s some proof that not all dogs hate me. A stray dog appeared in our village and started following me around. I grew to like it. I even asked my parents if we could adopt it. They said no. The dog disappeared one day.

The vicious Alsatian

This really was a vicious dog. It was during my university years. I had a friend that got a dog from an acquaintance. He told me that the dog was a little aggressive but that I’d be ok as long as he was around.

I visited him in his condo one day. I stayed around half an hour. The dog stared at me the whole time. A few times he barked and headed toward me. The owner kept pushing him away. As I got up to leave, the dog suddenly rushed at me, bit me, and ran back to the kitchen.

A few days later, his girlfriend was out walking the dog. The dog saw me and started dragging the woman along the street in an attempt to get to me. The dog was stronger than the woman. I had to hide in a shop to escape.

Good dog, bad dog

I different friend had two Alsatians. I visited him soon after he got the dogs. One dog kept barking at me and looked like he was going to attack me. The owner had to lock him outside the house. The other dog loved me and sat with me the whole time demanding attention. The bad dog was male. The good dog was female.

Is it only male dogs that are aggressive?

Bicycle chasing dog

I used to cycle to university. There was a terrier on my street that always chased me and barked at me. I didn’t mind too much because I was on my bike. It was easy to get away from him.

One day I was walking in the evening and saw the dog ahead of me with what looked like the owner and a couple of other people chatting on the sidewalk. I thought the dog might leave me alone, as I wasn’t on my bike. No such luck.

As I got closer the dog started barking aggressively at me. The owner grabbed him by the collar and apologized to me. He said he didn’t know what had come over the dog as he never barked at anyone. Oh yeah? I don’t think the owner knew what his dog got up to.

There are a few other incidents not worth mentioning.

My wife’s parents have two dogs and my wife’s brother also has two dogs. I get on well with all four dogs. My sister also has a dog that is always friendly toward me.

I don’t hate any of those dogs.

I prefer cats. Cats never attack me. Cats seem to love me.

I could never be in a relationship with anyone that had a dog. Dogs are just not for me. I don’t know what I do to upset so many of them.

Apologies to any dog lovers that probably have very well-behaved dogs. Dogs that I might actually like.