It can be debilitating. Feelings of panic, terror,
feeling like your life is in danger,
that you are going to lose your mind, heart pounding,
sweating, trembling, just a sense that you're unsafe
and you need to get the hell out of there.
OK, go.
Bulldogs, beagles, border collies and all the breeds in between.
There's an expectation we should all love dogs because why wouldn't we?
To most they're adorable.
But what if canines bring you nothing but paralysing dread?
It's called cynophobia...
And it's way more common than you'd expect.
It's one of those silent phobias that we don't talk about in Australia.
I think we have a bit of a, she'll-be-right culture
and we're only just starting to step in the right direction
acknowledging that mental health problems
really exist in this country.
This is a relatively specific one.
and with an animal that really is an icon, it's almost like
saying you're scared of kangaroos or koalas,
people would think it's bullsh*t.
- But it's not. - It's not, no, it really exists.
Drop! On your side.
Ryan Tate is a leading animal trainer.
He's disciplined everything from birds to sharks
but dogs are his passion.
Anthony Berrick, is a dog obedience expert,
he's also one of the world's only psychologists
specialising in cynophobia.
Together they work to treat this rarely talked about condition
across the globe.
Today I've found them a new patient.
Hi, Patrick.
Anything that resembles a German Shepherd,
or that kind of aggressive-looking sort of dog,
I get an instant pang.
It's like, walk in the other direction.
I was 13 when our family dog, which was a huge German Shepherd
attacked me and bit me 7 times, still have scars.
If we could find a way for you to be in the presence
of a kind of big scary-looking German Shepherd,
that's displaying this kind of aggressive behaviour,
but you feel in control and you feel confident and safe,
that would be a very new experience for your brain.
I feel like you're getting to a proposition
that you're going to try and talk me into.
There's only one way to find out.
Sit! Good boys.
How much of what you do is based on science?
Any training of animals is based upon science
but there's also an art involved there as well.
How I react within a particular moment in time
can greatly impact how the dog will perform or behave.
Free! Good boy.
Cynophobia's one of the top 5 phobias in Australia.
We are a dog-loving society and the people we've worked with,
it's absolutely crippling, there's so many stories
of people trapping themselves in public bathrooms
or staying in their car because
maybe a small or a really large dog has appeared.
Our boy Max had cynophobia, very bad fear of dogs,
loved the idea of dogs,
but just couldn't really be near one, and we don't know where it came from,
he's never been attacked or bitten
and a boy and his dog is a special friendship, right?
You've had a bad day you go and take your dog
and pat your dog and the dog's gonna love you
regardless whatever else is going on in your life
and I didn't want him to miss out on that.
And also it was very stressful for him if we went out
he would ask in advance, is there going to be a dog there?
If we went to a park, is it a dog park?
The night before he'd start planning and thinking it through,
if we went to the beach, can you guarantee me there's no dogs there?
And so it would make every family outing a more stressful affair.
After a while it just got pretty bad that I couldn't even walk outside.
So Dad offered to take me to a psychologist.
We were there for about 6 months.
Nothing happened, nothing changed, if anything it actually got worse.
And we found Anthony.
I think it took 6 weeks and now I'm better with it.
Everybody I've come across, they always say
"Dogs, they're so cute, why would you hate them?" And I have to explain
I don't hate dogs, it's a real phobia
and I've had it for as long as I remember.
And I'm trying very hard to deal with it right now.
How far are you into overcoming that fear
because coming here today is a really big deal for you, right?
It is. I need to know where the dogs are at all times
I can't just sort of relax and walk along.
I would say I've come a long way, but I still have quite a bit to go.
Like Menaka, I'm gonna rid myself of this phobia for good.
So after a bit more chatting with Anthony,
he says it's time to face the fear head on.
And after the next couple of hours
I should feel less fear.
Stage one. Get closer to dog.
Are you ready?
Ah! Ah, my god!
Keep very close to my hand.
Stage two. Let dog bite me.
Get ready.
Ah! F**k!
F**k I feel like he's gonna rip my hand off.
Oh! Oh my god!
Woah!
That was super intense.
My heart is flying!
Stage three. Let dog come at me with vicious intent.
- I think we should do it before I change my mind. - OK. Let's do it.
OK, go.
Good boy!
OK, OK! Ouch!
F**k!
You did great. How are you feeling?
- I'm still shaking. - Yeah, I can see.
No, you did brilliantly.
I thought no way would you get to the stage of the jacket,
particularly after seeing you in stage one
playing with the tug toy with Anthony.
I think your drive to push yourself is really admirable.
I think you should give yourself a pat on the back.
If I see a dog like... I mean now just the fact that he's off leash
and kind of moving around, you just saw when he came at me
I still step back a little but...
I think I register the fear and, like, that's irrational
he's not going to hurt me so...
I feel like if I confront that in a park or...
somewhere else then I probably will feel less fear.
People are too embarrassed to admit that they have a fear of dogs.
I want other people who have the same phobia to go out and seek help.
Cynophobia can be cured,
it is something they should definitely try to do.
How do you feel now, Max?
It's Saturday morning, you're in your local area,
and you're walking your dog, your family dog,
which you've not ever really been able to do before now.
It kind of feels a bit empowering
to know I can actually do this stuff now.