I don't like people that much and yet people who seem to like dogs more than people still creep me out

What's up with people being obsessed with dogs in the 21st century? Every time I see someone on Tinder say "just here to hang out with your dog" or a dude who has a hundred Instagram posts with his dog I think that person is crazy. The compulsion to spend all of your waking energy on a dog doesn't resonate with me at all.

Talk about how you feel about dogs in this thread.

Honestly, in the last few years I've felt the urge to get a dog more than I ever have in my life. As a kid I never liked dogs much and actually resented them because my neighbors stupid dog killed my cat once when I was young. I've been around so many people, especially women, who love dogs so much. I've met some cool dogs. I had a dream about getting a dog once or twice. But I still get viscerally disgusted when I see a person fawning over a dog. For whatever reason it doesn't sit well with me.

I love my dog. It's fun to just hang out on a Friday night and read while he snores next to me in bed, which is what I did tonight.

People get carried away, but there are worse things.

I don't like cats more than people but being British I find it a lot easier to demonstrate my affection for them

Dogs are whatever but for some reason none of the British ones seem to kill cats so I got no issue. There's a passage in this one Philip Roth book (Portnoy's Complaint maybe?) about how unreasonably irritated the protagonist becomes when people talk to their dogs as though they were people and I can definitely see where hes coming from

I love dogs. Just saved my neighbor's hound from a possum and then rubbed her (the dog's) belly once the chaos was over. She's a stinky, good girl.

I need to get a dog but I don't want one until I have a yard for it to run in.

And by run I mean take a shit.

dogs are great. they're so joyul and dumb that "hanging out with dogs" essentially means "finding the good parts of our generally awful existence." i think people really want comfort right now and dogs provide a really uncomplicated version of that.

I'm in bed right now and my bichon-poodle is snoring really loud next to me. Wondering what he is dreaming about. Probably something really cool!

jesus jones wrote:dogs are great. they're so joyul and dumb that "hanging out with dogs" essentially means "finding the good parts of our generally awful existence." i think people really want comfort right now and dogs provide a really uncomplicated version of that.

This is on point. I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, and I came to the conclusion that the thing most people really want is just to love and to be loved unconditionally. Peoples' myriad quirks and complications make this really hard to do. Dogs are just these ridiculous little balls of unconditional love that can serve as a consolation prize when we fail to get what we truly wanted out of life.

I was up at 6AM and the first time either of my cats paid attention to me was at 10:05 when one of them walked by, rubbed his face against my calf and started purring.

That is more real life than any dog bullshit.

Ned Braden wrote:I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, and I came to the conclusion that the thing most people really want is just to love and to be loved unconditionally. Peoples' myriad quirks and complications make this really hard to do. Dogs are just these ridiculous little balls of unconditional love that can serve as a consolation prize when we fail to get what we truly wanted out of life.

i can this see on an emotional level, even though i would find it tedious over the long term. on an intellectual level it would be absolutely zero comfort to me that animals that have been inbreed to such a level of stupidity are showing me unconditional love. it's empty in the same way that casual sex can be. the love of an uncritical dog does not substitute for an inability to be loved by people with real faculties.

Nick, that sounds cute!

chrondog wrote:

Ned Braden wrote:I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, and I came to the conclusion that the thing most people really want is just to love and to be loved unconditionally. Peoples' myriad quirks and complications make this really hard to do. Dogs are just these ridiculous little balls of unconditional love that can serve as a consolation prize when we fail to get what we truly wanted out of life.

i can this see on an emotional level, even though i would find it tedious over the long term. on an intellectual level it would be absolutely zero comfort to me that animals that have been inbreed to such a level of stupidity are showing me unconditional love. it's empty in the same way that casual sex can be. the love of an uncritical dog does not substitute for an inability to be loved by people with real faculties.

Nick, that sounds cute!

it doesn't get tedious. navigating the emotional complexity of humans is exhausting. if you're solely into intellectualizing pet ownership, you probably shouldn't have a pet.

Twice I have been attacked by dogs
And the owners always lied and
Never took my side.
A customers toy poodle was killed
By a bigger dog that ran across the street
To attack her defenseless dog
The owners lied over and over again
To protect their dog to the point
Of smearing the nice old lady

I don't mind dogs but don't trust any dog
Owners any longer

I was mauled by a dog, as a kid. Motherfucker just about tore my face off. I wasn't really his biggest fan, but I'm still down with hounds at large.

Not saying that to argue with you, Avec. Just commenting on my own experiences and philosophy.

The dog in question was euthanized at the owners' behest.

coyote wrote:
I don't mind dogs but don't trust any dog
Owners any longer

this is me.