I once worked with a therapist who occasionally brought her little dog in. The dog ignored me, but it was tremendously distracting and stressful. I'm sure it works great for dog people! I am not dog people. I'm so sorry the doctor not only put you through that but tried to justify it—I hope this isn't someone you're seeing about mental health concerns, because addressing a phobia with "But the dog just wants to love you!" is very bad practice.