Childhood fears and fantasies about animals are directly connected with their feelings and fears of their parents. Cats are associated with the mother, and dogs with the father. A child who fears that a cat will scratch or hurt him can be interpreted in terms of feeling that the mother does not love him. There is fear that she may hurt him because she hates him. The child who is afraid of being attacked by a dog is expressing a disguised fear of his father. Animal symbolism in this way often appears in dreams in both childhood and adulthood.
ATTRIBUTION:
Jean Rosenbaum (b. 1940), U.S. author. “I’ve Got the Meanest Dog on the Block!” Is Your Volkswagen a Sex Symbol?, Hawthorn Books (1972).
