You may think big tough guys aren’t afraid of much, but INSIDE EDITION talks to one man who had a severe phobia of puppies until a particular form of therapy helped him to face his fear.
"Oh hell no!!! Oh no, no, no, no, no," said Marvin Cruz
He's the man who's terrified of puppies!
That's right, when the big, tough looking guy goes to a local dog park and an adorable pit bull puppy approaches, he's so scared, he starts to bawl and weep like a little girl.
Marvin Cruz is featured on the Animal Planet show My Extreme Animal Phobia, premiering Friday night.
His fear started in childhood, when he watched a pit bull attack his little friend, now he struggles not to flee in sheer terror.
As part of his therapy, Cruz has to touch the puppy.
Cruz's is just one of the strange phobias featured on the special. One woman is terrified of spiders. For her therapy she has to hold tarantulas in her hands.
One guy is terrified of snakes!
Psychologist Dr. Robin Zasio uses something she calls immersion therapy to cure the animal phobias.
"This is basically what we call a systematic desensitization, in which the brain begins to learn that there is no danger. But the only way to find that out is by actually confronting their fear," said Dr. Zasio.
Her patients make impressive progress.
INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander met up with Cruz to see how he was doing.
"Would you be ok if I set her down? This is Isabella," said Alexander.
"Oh yeah, it's a baby," said Cruz as he lifted the dog onto his lap and gave her a kiss.
Alexander and Dr. Zasio both said, "Oh a kiss!"
