<p>Why is it that people love and pet labradors and golden retrievers with no fear, but freak out when they see spiders, silver fish, and in my family the fear extends to ants and flies. </p>
<p>Because insects don’t have big beautiful melting eyes and they don’t wag their tails when they see you.</p>
<p>People and dogs have developed over millennia to be each other’s companions and hunting partners. Flies, not so much.</p>
<p>Ha ha, I opened this thinking someone was going to give suggestions how to keep the flies away from the dogs (and their companions). </p>
<p>Lots of people are scared of dogs. Many little kids are terrified of them. </p>
<p>I would guess that the pets we choose as companions (dogs and cats, mostly) are the ones we can anthropomorphize the most easily. That is, we can attribute human-like qualities to them without stretching the imagination. In fact, given the way they look and behave, it’s natural to do so.</p>
<p>You cannot anthropomorphize a bug.</p>
<p>I can understand not choosing them as companions. My q is why this irrational fear. they are so small and we know that they are harmless. It is not like we are talking about vipers here</p>
<p>I have to admit I am deathly afraid of spiders…i have done totally irrational things when comfronted by them and i cannot intellectualize or convince myself they are OK. </p>
<p>Actually, it’s not an irrational fear. It’s just a natural, instinctive fear gone out of control.</p>
<p>Insects are dangerous because many are venomous --and even those that wouldn’t kill anyone can give a nasty sting or bite. So primitive humans would have been wise to avoid them – and those type of fears are kind of hard wired to develop if triggered at an early age. Now obviously there is a big difference between a black widow or scorpion, and a harmless daddy long-legs - but the instinct thing just isn’t that good at nuance. So people (and monkeys) will tend to react to and develop more intransigent fears to insects and snakes than to other things. It helps to be hyper-vigilant and hyper-reactive, precisely because venomous spiders usually bite people who haven’t noticed that they are there. </p>
<p>Now you might wonder why this doesn’t extend to a fear of dogs, as wolves can also be dangerous – but wolves don’t tend to infest one’s bedding - and running from a wolf isn’t a particularly useful way of avoiding one (canines are particularly fond of chasing their prey). So a strong and agitated fear response isn’t particularly useful when it comes to sharing one’s environment with wolves – better to stay calm and quiet when encountering one. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to an article about snake-fear that gets a this concept somewhat:
<a href=“Eeek, Snake! Your Brain Has A Special Corner Just For Them : Shots - Health News : NPR”>Eeek, Snake! Your Brain Has A Special Corner Just For Them : Shots - Health News : NPR;
<p>Bugs are stealthy, sneaky and can be venomous or can infest your pantry.
Dogs can steal your pantry food–but sneak up on you, not so much!</p>
<p>I thought there would be a funny YouTube video of dogs catching flies… :)</p>
<p>I think calmom explained the reasons very well. </p>
<p>I’m not afraid of bugs, but I have such a strong phobia regarding those other things-that-shall-not-be-named that I won’t even read the article calmom posted. :)</p>
<p>Brown recluse spiders…venom eats holes in your skin
Mosquitos …west Nile virus, malaria and they can give your dog heartworm
Wasps…OUCH
Killer bees…Need we say anything?
Fire ants…systematic attack ants
Ticks…nothing more disgusting!</p>
<p>Vs.</p>
<p>Cujo. (Who was fine til he was bitten by a rabid bat)</p>
<p>My dog goes nuts when there is a fly outside or in the house, that’s what I thought this thread was about.</p>
<p>I’m not afraid of insects, & Ive never met anyone who was afraid of ants or flies.
Have they spoken to a dr about this?</p>
<p>I’ve known people who were afraid of stinging insects, which possibly is more rational. (But flailing around in proximity to the bee
Considering my lack of fear led to investigating what sort of hornets were living in my lilac, & then I was stung 9 x and had to go to the hospital…,
@-) </p>
<p>^Ow. </p>
<p>Most bugs bite. And you can’t pet them. A dog MAY be unfriendly, but you can usually tell and avoid them if necessary. Petting a friendly dog is such a good experience – the dog is happy and it feels good to pet soft fur. You really can’t pet a bug, and even if you did you wouldn’t be able to tell if the bug enjoyed it, nor would it probably feel as satisfying as dog fur does.</p>
<p>In Costa Rica ants bite and I found out I was allergic to them. Sometimes, there IS a rational fear of ants and other insects that isn’t readily apparent because of one’s limited geographic experience.</p>
<p>Well you can see easily see a dog but bugs sneak up on you.:)</p>
<p>I’d also point out that dogs communicate and engage with us. They look us in the eye, and their eyes, nose and mouth forms a face in the same rough arrangement as human faces – so we can relate to them in a way that is kind of like we relate to people. (One of my dogs seems to be very fluent in English – I can give him complex directions to find a ball or toy and he follows them – for example, “go around behind the chair” or “look in your box”. I once won a bet with my son over whether the dog would actually follow the instructions to “go outside and find your ball and bring it back in.”) </p>
<p>So basically, no reason to be afraid of dogs because we can use our words with them. </p>
<p>In fact, that’s exactly what I’ve told my grandson. When he was about 2, I simply told him that if the dogs were bothering him he could say “NO” in a deep strong voice.</p>