こわい
fearful, being afraid, fearsome
忄 a heart with 布 a cloth thrown over it, hiding. Doesn't matter how small the dog is or whose it is. You are cowed by it, already behind someone: こわい.
Does both jobs: the person who is afraid, and the thing that is frightening.
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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.