The point is there are certain places our minds just naturally go in response to certain types of stimuli. There are individual differences in how long it takes to get there or what types of stimuli trigger it, but it's a physiological process. Telling oneself, "I'm not a dog. I don't have to feel this way," won't magically fix anything. Studies on PTSD have been done using animals as well, yet I don't think too many people would tell war veterans "You're not a lab rat. Just stop feeling so hyper-alert all of the time."