Cynophobia

It has a name. Cynophobia is the fear of dogs. According to msn.com the phobia can develop after a bad experience with an animal or simply through lack of exposure to them. As a child, I never had a dog. We were cat people. Then when my second child, Laura, was around three years old, she was badly bitten in the face and neck by a Japanese Akita. She was in the operating room for three hours and received hundreds of stitches in her scalp, neck and several places on her face. We were lucky there was not nerve damage. During her teen years she had several cosmetic surgeries to mask the scares. Today she is beautiful - inside and out. And today she has two dogs, and no fears. Amazing.