Ian Wallace Interpretation:
Dream: A dog that seems very familiar and friendly suddenly starts to snarl and growl at you. Its aggressiveness frightens you and you retreat. The dog keeps advancing towards you and starts nipping at your arms or legs. As you try and calm the dog down, it launches a full-scale attack and sinks its teeth deep into you. You find it impossible to shake it off and are concerned that you might hurt the dog in some way. The dream can also involve wilder members of the dog family such as foxes, jackals, hyenas or wolves.
Meaning: A dog is traditionally a human’s best friend and its appearance in a dream usually reflects your role as a loyal and loving companion in waking life. You usually give unconditional love to a partner in the hope they will return equal amounts of affection back to you. No matter how faithful and affectionate you are, however, you are often disappointed when you feel your love isn’t being returned. You become angry with the object of your affections but feel that you can’t say anything in case you upset him or her. Rather than being honest and open, you may act in a passive aggressive manner and begin to make nipping remarks. As your loved one retreats you sink your teeth in and hang on for dear life in case they try to get rid of you. If the attacking dog is black, then this may be habitual behaviour and can feel quite depressing for you after a while. The fox and the jackal suggest that you feel you are being manipulated and your affections are being preyed on in a cunning and devious way. If you are attacked by a pack of hyenas then you feel people may be laughing at your attempts at affection and aren’t taking you seriously enough. Being attacked by a pack of wolves usually suggests that you are being overly loyal to family members but they aren’t returning the loyalty that you give so freely to them.
Action: This dream is urging you to consider the love you give to people and how it is reciprocated. Unconditional love can be a wonderful gift of generosity and trust but you are often tempted to just give your love away. This is often driven by a fear that you are somehow unlovable and this is the only way that you will ever receive any love. Instead of hounding others to provide you with unconditional love, think about how you can love yourself unconditionally. Have faith in yourself and others will always have faith in you.
Background: Dogs were one of the first animals to be domesticated by humans and reflect how we tame and accommodate our natural instincts and aggressions. Although our innate drives become domesticated as we grow up, they can easily revert to a wilder state if our affection and fidelity are ignored. Like dogs, we are social animals who bond through loyalty and by supporting each other, as we pursue common goals. In the same way as our canine companions, we humans have a fundamental need to be part of a social group, which provides us with companionship, protection, and the opportunity to play together.