On acting and big dogs

My relationship with acting is similar to the one I have with bigger dogs. Encounters between us can go really well, but they can also go awry. On the successful days in acting, or in front of a doberman, I ease into the situation. I don't get tensed up. Stay loose. My fear is channeled and left where no body can sense it. I reach out my hand, ready for anything: a stare, a sniff, a lick. I am certain that there will be no biting.

Not so with other days. Propelled in the action, there's no time to prepare. I didn't know a pitbull lived here! What am I supposed to do, act like it's a kitten? Thoughts rush into my head, freezing me still. Why would anyone think it a good idea to have a beast in a house? What is this business of having pets anyway? God, it's looking at me strange. Is it snearing? I think it is. Now it's barking! It's running towards me! Help! Help! HELP! Someone rescue me before I get devoured!

How to control such ups and downs?
Technique, my friend. Which basically means : practice. And never, ever stop practicing. Because there is a reason to be scared. Dogs used to be wild. Until we tamed them.
But does the wild, the unpredictable, ever go completely away...