Democracy Dog

May 29th, two thousand and something, my dad brought home an Alsatian puppy for me and my little brother. We really wanted a puppy and were elated when this little black and white Alsatian pup was given to us. Of course, the next step was to name him. Everyone in my house was giving suggestions, including me and my brother. As you could imagine, even though the puppy was ours, our opinion on the naming was irrelevant.

My mum yelled out “Arinze!” - Arinze means Prince in Igbo. Arinze is a good name but it didn't quite suit the dog. I don’t recall who said this exactly but one of my parents’ staff suggested Democracy because he was brought to us on Democracy Day. And so it was - our puppy’s name was Democracy and we had to get with the programme. I was not too happy with the name but I accepted my new puppy. My little brother and I called him something else but I won’t reveal it because “First pet’s name” is a security question and I am smart enough to know not to.

Our puppy answered to two names. Democracy - Demo for short was used mostly by the cook and “steward” (for lack of a better description but Nigerians will understand what I mean) because they were in charge of feeding, bathing and taking him on walks. And the name my little brother and I called him because we gave him treats and affection. We really loved him! I cried on the first Sunday we had him because we had to go to church and he could not come with us.

Thinking back on it, he was our dog on paper but he spent more time with our steward who was interested in making him a guard dog! After he grew past the puppy stage, Demo spent most of his time in the dog house and was only let out to roam at night. Hence, guard dog.

One evening, I was walking home and he chased after me aggressively and I was traumatised by it. Especially for the fact that the steward had to call him off me. I still loved him and played with him until the day my dad called the house phone from the vets and shared that he had passed.

When people ask me what triggered my fear for dogs, I always revert to the day I was chased by my dog. However, I would not say that it triggered anything because I was not attacked and I went on to have a good relationship with him until he passed. I think it definitely did not help but I believe my aversion to dogs come from my environment.

Beware of dog!

This is a sign that Nigerian’s are oh too familiar with. At the gate of most houses, there was a sign that warned you of the presence of a vicious dog that lived in that premises. A slight touch of the gate or sound resulted in thunderous barks from the resident dog. I never got to see these dogs but the mere sound of their barks was enough to let me know that I really should beware and that dogs were wild unstable animals that were only tameable by their handlers. This rhetoric was reinforced over time. The dogs in my neighbourhood were huge intimidating animals, and foaming at the mouth. The idea that dogs were man’s best friend was a notion that was applicable to only movies and was not to my reality.

A pup named Sasha

At some point, I discovered that the Nigerian dog culture had changed. People began to have “house dogs” that roamed around. But it was a specific breed of dog that was deemed trendy. Everyone that had that dog and it was either called Sasha or Cookie. Maltese breed. So there were two types of dogs in a household. The pet dog, which was usually a dwarf dog and then the guard dog whose presence was announced by the sign on the gates and their barks.

UK dog culture

I was not exposed to a lot of pets in my uni days because most student accommodation did not permit them and people’s pets lived at home with their families. It was not until I moved from student life to live as a young adult, that I noticed the seriousness of my aversion to dogs. The idea of big and grown dogs non-Maltese dogs, spending time inside the house was very foreign to me. I struggled with the guard dogs outside homes, inside their dog houses, how much more in my personal space.

I could not go to visit friends with dogs because even though they were happy to keep their dogs away and out of sight, I did not want anyone to go through that trouble for me. The one time some friend’s kept their Staffie in the garden, it cried so much and was scratching at the door. I felt like I was being so cruel to it so I much rather not go there at all.

So are you more of a cat person?

Absolutely, positively, NO! I am not a cat person. I do not dislike dogs, I am just cautious around them. People tell me that I have a dog-phobia. A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. My fear or rather, aversion to dogs is neither extreme nor is it irrational. It is an informed caution and obedience to all the beware of dog signs I have come across. I would agree that I have a cat phobia because I cannot go to any space that has a cat there, nor can I walk through the cat food aisle in the supermarket because I am terrified of the pictures. That fear is irrational and I know it is. It probably stems from the many links between cats and witchcraft. But that is a story for another day and there is so much to unpack there.

My husband says I need to get help for it. It affects our social life heavily. Even going on holidays. We have to do heavy TripAdvisor research on any of the hotels we are considering to make sure that there were resident pets there. I would like to be free from the shackles of this fear and I’m trying my best with dogs.

Especially because, they have all of a sudden taken over my life. Both my sisters in law have got dogs. One of them has even got two! And I work for a company that has an office dog, Harley. He is there to lighten up the mood and I can see that his presence does make people seem happy. Yes, some days I am uncomfortable with him being at work. But I made the decision to take this job to forcibly change my attitude towards dogs. I am very proud of myself and how far I have come in my journey.

It just goes to show the effect of one's environment on the mind. I did not develop an irrational fear of dogs and it was not an effect of trauma. But the fear was well informed and taught by the environment I was around. I am trying my best to change my view and not see dogs as these wild animals because they are truly loving creatures and not the beasts that foam at the mouth. People have dogs around their babies/children and dogs also offer assistance that improves the lives of children and adults. Being around Harley, the office dog has really helped me. I no longer panic when I run into a dog at the pub or when I see one walking towards me on the pavement.

The story is not over yet. I still have some instances where I relapse and panic around Harley at work. Everyone at work knows my struggle and they put him in a different room whenever I feel uncomfortable. I'm alright with that because he is not alone in the other room. I hope that one day I can get over my extra caution around dogs and enjoy them as much as I once enjoyed Democracy.

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