589: When Dogs Attack

I've been experiencing a lot of fear lately in relation to Hazel, my dog. Often times when I walk her, I fear running into a 'bad dog' or a dog off leash, that is away from its owner, and will basically come and attack Hazel. This has been exemplified a bit by some recent encounters on our walk where a dog got out of its house and ran towards her... not in full-blown attack mode, but definitely had a growl and went straight for her like he could attack any moment. I had an umbrella on this day so was able to use it to put between the dogs, and luckily the owner was at the front door of the house it came from and was calling for him, which eventually he did return to. Another incident was at the dog park where a female dog basically went after Hazel, nipping at her backside and telling her to basically who was boss, chasing her down and causing quite a stir. The owner mentioned she seemed to have aggression towards to female dogs that have not yet been spayed, which at that point of time, Hazel was not yet. And so we have not been back to the dog park since. (side note - Hazel was spayed yesterday so we will be returning to the dog park as soon as she's recovered).

So since these two incidents, I notice I am much more on high alert when walking her each day. Though I know this fear of another aggressive dog attacking her was around before these two incidents, since them, however, I am much tenser and nervous on our walks.

And within this, also a fear of creating that which I fear. Like because this fear is present, and feeling so strong, I am also anticipating creating the exact scenario... within the belief that what we accept and allow within ourselves, we create. THOUGH - if that is the case, then the solution is to forgive the fear, rid myself of the fear, stop participating in the fear, educate myself on what to do if we are ever in that situation, and let go of the fact that if it happens, it happens and I will have to stand within that moment.

So today I see the need for some self-forgiveness on this point because the walks are becoming uncomfortable for me, and when I am not present I am not prepared for reality and whatever could unfold in a moment.

And so I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear hazel being attacked by another dog

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to exist within a fear of hazel being attacked by another dog and allow this fear to dwell inside of me instead of releasing myself from the fear that I see is based on past moments where there have been close encounters, and also based on knowledge and information of this world where I've heard of dogs attacking each other, and I've seen what neglectful dog parents can create in dogs behaviors

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear another dog running out of its house and attacking Hazel and to within this, fear being absolutely helpless in such a moment, not sure of what to do or how to help hazel

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear a dog loose on the street and assume it will be aggressive and want to attack hazel

I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to consider that perhaps the fear of hazel being attacked by a dog is actually me being afraid of being attacked by a dog, but I have transferred/projected this fear unto hazel

I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to take responsibility of my own fear of being attacked by a dog, as it has been present within me for a long time, and to instead allow it to fester and grow within myself and to now project that fear of it happening onto hazel

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to exist within a childhood memory where a Dalmatian dog jumped up on me and scratched my lip and drew blood and to within this, define it as me being attacked by a dog and to since then, fear something similar happening again and instead making it more and worse within my mind as my imagination of the worst possible scenario of a dog attacking me

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear dogs and they are unpredictable and fear the uncertainty of the type of dog I will encounter and always assume it is aggressive and wanting to harm me

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to use memories of being around aggressive dogs, seeing aggressive dogs on television and movies and allow that to be my justification for living in fear of most dogs... not willing to trust them at all and assume they are aggressive and ready to attack

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to become tense and nervous when waking hazel as the fear of a dog coming near us that wants to attack or harm us

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not question the fact that there are animals in this world that are so neglected by ignorant people who do not understand themselves and how who they are in fact creates how our domesticated animals are and to within this - just accept the idea that there are bad dogs instead of doing my part to bring awareness to people the responsibility we have as animal owners

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realize that a healthy dose of fear is necessary in this world because there are animals that are abused and neglected and learn to distrust humans and other dogs and that creates aggressive, unpredictable dogs and so I forgive myself that I have not allowed myself to face the reality that there are dogs that are dangerous and I must practice common sense when coming across other dogs and not assume they are all good or all bad but realize this world and us humans currently do not produce what's best for all... we produce destruction and disharmony and until all take responsibility for who they are and what they accept and allow within themselves and those around them (people and animals alike) we will not have a world where you can automatically trust our domesticated animals

I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to educate myself within preparing myself on what to do if I were to face a moment where we come across an aggressive dog

I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to empower myself through education on the practical actions I can do to prevent situations that could be harmful to me and hazel and other animals

When and as I see myself fearing being attacked or hazel being attacked by an aggressive dog, I stop ad I breathe. I see, realize, and understand that part of this fear is fueled by past memories and so within this I am allowing myself to live in the past and so I commit myself to let go of the past as memories and the knowledge and information acquired throughout the years as to why I should fear dogs and rather embrace a balanced fear that is full of common sense that we cannot trust humans at this stage so we cannot trust dogs at this stage and to within this, I commit myself to support the awareness of how who we are influences the animals in our lives and to show as a living example how we are able to create a balanced dog that does not have the first instinct to attack as a defense mechanism because the dog also learned not to trust humans.

I commit myself to educate myself on how to handle a situation if ever such one arises

I commit myself to let go of the fear of the past and instead walk in the moment, as my breath, when walking hazel

I commit myself to stay present when walking hazel as realizing that is the best place to be if something were to occur as I would be ready/here/able to act in the moment as I'm not distracted within my mind

I commit myself to find and live solutions for myself and others in learning, educating, and implementing solutions to create a dog-people relationship that is best for all

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