That's the subheadline to the Atlantic article "Too Many People Own Dogs" by Rose Horowitz.
I feel like I know what this article says and I agree with it... all before reading it. Do you?
Let's see.... "American humans" these days are more anxious than ever, and it's no coincidence that dogs are anxious too... or anxious humans are just interpreting their dogs as anxiety ridden. Lots of dogs these days are getting dosed with Prozac. Therefore, we're told, getting a dog is "ethically murky."
People who adopt "rescue" dogs may feel proud of their ethics, but they're more likely to begin with a dog that is already anxious. And the way people live today, they may plan to keep the dog indoors nearly all the time. Then they are going to worry about this dog of theirs that seems to be mentally ill.
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I don't think the typical US dog gets nearly as much exercise as they need.
They are also pack animals, and are often at home alone for long periods of time. They need a friend around; another dog or two, or a cat or two. Loneliness will drive a dog insane.
I agree with your idea that you don't need to read the article to know what it'll say. This would also be a case where asking ChatGPT to write an article on the prompt of that headline might result in a better article than the actual article.
ethically murky? description of the present federal administration.
As you know, I got depressed for a minute, until my neighbor let me borrow his pitbull as an emotional support animal. The dog's name is "Kong" and he needed a hug as badly as I did. And it worked:
I quickly came back to what passes for my 'normal' in the NewAge.
"Too Many People Own Dogs"
How about we try the following, "Too Many Women Own Dogs" or "Too Many Women Own Dogs They Can't Handle", and see what the reaction is. Odds are it would be a 'livlier' comments section at the Atlantic lemme tell you.
"Emotional support", whatever that means, is the worst possible reason, period, full stop. Whatever your gripe, emotional support is not the answer, but particularly loneliness. A pet acquired to cure isolation is the second-worst course of action, the first being a drug of choice. Both often lead to exacerbating circumstances.
Love is a bad word. English is blest with a rich vocabulary that gives voice to a broad spectrum of meaning in everything but our most decisive life-defining motivation, which gets one. The Greeks had seven, and even that was inadequate. In my estimation, the closest one to modern pet ownership is στοργή -- storge, the natural affection between parent and child. However, Fido is not your child, and when I hear someone describe a pet in filial terms I smell dysfunction.
Substitute "children" for "dogs" and you have an article that makes just as much sense.
I live in a part of Old South Florida where dogs roam as they did in the 50's and 60's. I know all the neighbors dogs and they know me. Treats for visiting abound. As such they keep the racoons away and the coyotes give us a pass. Florida Panthers also give us a wide berth. Alligators are a concern... An alligators favorite food is a swimming Labrador. Now in our 70's we've foregone dog ownership as their lives quite possibly will out last ours.
Note to the Professor: could you ever imagine in 1965 going to your father and telling him he had to go out and pick up the family mutts shit to dispose of? Your father would have thought you insane.
Substitute "children" for "dogs" and you have an article that makes just as much sense.
I'll agree that too many people own dogs. Of course that goes contra to the mantra that there are all these rescue animals out there without an owner--so adopt one.
That said if you have the time, the space and the money to own and care for a dog, they are great to have around. I'll turn 80 in a couple of weeks, and I've had dogs since I was four years old. Most were well adjusted and happy. My current dog is a "rescue dog" (and for that matter the last four or five before her were rescues of a sort).
My current dog would be difficult for an active working couple. She loves all people--but is aggressive and reactive to anything with four legs or wings. As a result we can't take her out for a walk as most people do. She's got some separation anxiety--but my wife and I are retired and around the house for most of the day. We've got a big fenced backyard. The hillside above the fence has deer, coyotes, bobcats, ground squirrels etc, which give her plenty of 'mental stimulation". So our situation "works" for the dog. But if we were a working couple living in an apartment the dog would go absolutely nuts.
The article could have been titled "Most people are minimally competent in some aspects of life" and been about buying a house, figuring out what to eat, getting married, owning a used car, managing money or raising children.
I got my first dog a year ago after having been retired for 6 months. It was dumb luck that I got a 9 year-old rescue rather than a 9 week-old puppy. I've read two books on the care and training of dogs and skimmed through a dozen more. Along with a bunch of techniques, I learned that puppies take much more time and attention than my AARP dog.
Marcia Munt is a maniac. No 9 week-old puppy is normal. After a year, they are getting normal, but it takes another year for them to start settling down.
The author of the article, is part of the problem. The title, "Too Many People Own Dogs", encourages anyone vaguely interested, to read the article and think, "yeah, other people are assholes."
What reader of The Atlantic is going to read a constructive article about the age and breed considerations when choosing a dog? Even dog-oriented articles or videos are going to give some quick training tips, rather than suggest reading an entire book to have a coherent approach to working with your dog.
As you know, I got depressed for a minute, until my neighbor let me borrow his pitbull as an emotional support animal. The dog's name is "Kong" and he needed a hug as badly as I did. And it worked:
I quickly came back to what passes for my 'normal' in the NewAge.
In the words of that great 80s philosopher Crocodile Dundee, don't they have any mates? Excellent use of dog hugs instead of antidepressants.
That said - I recently found a short video from a therapist who deals with people with anxiety and depression; she spent her 12 minutes making the case for using cognitive behavior therapy (that is, comparing your ruminations and catastrophizing to real life consequences - that is, using common sense even when you don't feel like it) and social connection and similar useful, old-fashioned things instead of medicalizing your feelings. I would put getting a dog (or having a child) because you "need" one up there with that.
Didn't it use to be a thing where pregnant teens who kept their babies often cited "someone to love me" as a reason? I mean, that statement ought to be embroidered on a pillow and then everyone in the world ought to kneel down and weep into that pillow - what a tragedy for young mother and child. Don't have a child because the child will love you. Don't get a pet because the pet will love you. And if you think you mean that you will do the loving but, on sober reflection, you feel a need to provide love that feels desperate - be careful, you may be rationalizing.
Stated baldly, and with full recognition that it is very often very difficult, find ways to become a whole, secure person before you take on a dependent.
It can happen that acquiring a dependent can be the thing that grows a person up or gets a person out of a funk. But what a risky proposition for the dependent.
And run your dog!
"Rescue" dogs.
"Who am I rescuing this dog from?"
Us.
"What ... why ... what are you going to do to it?"
We're going to kill it.
Signed,
PETA
If you love humans, maybe don't have sex, and day after regrets, which may engender a wicked solution. Oh, and no pets, too. You're just not that responsible for your voluntary actions.
My family has always had dogs, all types of dogs. I gotta picture of my great great great aunt in the 1890s with her dog. My wife had a dog when we married so then we had two dogs. We had three for a while, now 30 years later we only have one. The older you get, the harder it is when they die.
If you like dogs, take care of your dogs otherwise you’re a poser.
Do you have a 'gatekeeping' tag?
Almost all dogs are better than almost all people.
If you really want to have some fun, get a small dog and a big dog and watch them play together.
"Most people shouldn't have dogs. Except me, of course."
Did I get that right?
If you don't know whether you should get a dog or not, you shouldn't get a dog. (My wife and I have a dog who I love and take very good care of. But if it was up to me I wouldn't have one. It's a lot of work, it requires adherence to a tight schedule, interferes with me going where I want to go when I want to go there, and I don't really need emotional support-at least not of the kind that an emotionally needy hound can provide).
Actually in most cases the dog needs far more emotional support than the damaged humans who think the dog is going to help them.
Our dackel is technically a rescue (some friends had him for two years, and he was grown when they got him) and a Very Good Boy.
Even when we both worked he was rarely left alone (in a crate, which he likes) for more than four hours or so; he gets plenty of walks and has a large backyard to patrol.
At our age now, he's probably the last pooch we'll have.
Life as told from a New Yorker's point of view. I don't even have to read anything more than what you posted and I know this is a New Yorker's view of humans, dogs, and their world.
It's not the actual world.
Mentally unstable people projecting their neuroses onto their pets. No, if you are anxious don’t get a dog. Adopt a pet
Rock. It won’t care how crazy you are.
Another neurotic media busybody outs herself. I bet her apartment smells of potpourri and cats.
Obama ate a dog.
They say in DC if you want a friend, get a dog.
Biden got a dog.
There are people who's job is to make sure Biden's life isn't cut short.
The dog grew to hate those people.
David53 said:
The older you get, the harder it is when they die
Man that is the truth. The only dog I ever had since moving out of my parent’s home died at 12 years old in 1991. It broke my heart to the point I haven’t had another one. We lost both our cats to illness over the last two years. It was over a year before I could bring myself to get a new one. She’s a young Siamese, very pretty, but she’s been a stray on the streets for a couple of months. As a result she’s very shy. Since the car will likely outlive me I had to make my daughter promise to take her if my wife and I are both gone before her. Daughter’s a cat lover too so that wasn’t a problem. I’d get another dog if they could breed one that would live 25 years. ( our old tabby girl was nearly 22 when she died in 2020. )
"Rescue" dogs.
"Who am I rescuing this dog from?"
Us.
"What ... why ... what are you going to do to it?"
We're going to kill it.
Signed,
PETA
You have no clue about public versus private shelters. Public funding means deathly ill, savage (often mistreated) and breeds we are told are "bad"* (and hence are hard to adopt) all must be accepted.
Think NY City with a requirement that they HAVE to provide shelter to everyone. How's that working out?
* Time to scratch behind the ears of our son's Pitbull mix. Sweet, loving Leela.
Blogger Temujin said...
Life as told from a New Yorker's point of view. I don't even have to read anything more than what you posted and I know this is a New Yorker's view of humans, dogs, and their world.
It's not the actual world.
Leftists should avoid dogs and only adopt cats. Cats don't care about stuff. Dogs love you and that is a threat to leftists.
"Life as told from a New Yorker's point of view. I don't even have to read anything more than what you posted and I know this is a New Yorker's view of humans, dogs, and their world.
It's not the actual world."
Agreed. Most people from New York should never leave the city. They're not emotionally or intellectually prepared for life in the outside world.
Having a dog is like having a small child. My only advice to people is to get TWO Dogs, if you're single and you'll be gone for long periods of time.
Dogs are pack animals, and they aren't built to be alone. Cats, OTOH, don't care. They just think you're out hunting some food.
What's the data on how many humans have their physical, emotional, and spiritual health improved by having a dog?
I’ve never been without a Black Labrador my entire 54 years of life. They are truly man’s (human’s) best friend. They know you better than you think and love you unconditionally. As Mark Twain said:
‘Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, your dog would go in and you would stay out.’
RE: Rescue dogs. No good deed goes unscolded.
Too many people own the Karen character.
RideSpaceMountain @ 9:29 a.m.
Our half-Rottweiler considered me the Alpha. Pissed my husband off but what's a gal supposed to do? I fed him and trained him when he was a pup.
We "adopted" a 2-year-old yellow lab this past April. His first two owners apparently lived in the city. We're on a farm out in the country. We let him remain as a house dog but he finally gets to run and sniff and run and sniff and if he can get away with it, eat something he's not supposed to. He has his quirks but loves everyone. We're retired and home most of the time so he seems pretty happy with us. His previous owner made a comment on his "energy." I said that he's a lab. He'll settle down when he gets to be about five. The look on the guy's face told me that yeah, the dog is better off with us.
As I look back, you could say all our dogs weren't "normal." But if you just "listen" to them, you can figure them out and live together. It helps to have a lot of patience.
"There are too many people for " _____________.
Each and every endeavor has someone attempting it that simply can't do it. So... there are then too many people for that endeavor.
All in all, a worthless statement.
Truth would be "There are some people who shouldn't have dogs." Big whoop.
At the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney, what's with the trend of saying "humans" instead of "people"? Is it an attempt to make people the moral equivalent of other animals?
Joe Smith
Almost all dogs are better than almost all people.
The Venn diagram of the overlap (taking into consideration that "better" is a subjective trait) would resemble a cat's iris at midday with no cloud cover. ... In July.
The cat is not snoozing.
To several comments: My dogs have always been part of the family. As I've said before, Sam is probably the closest friend of 16 years I ever had.
Given that, my view is if you want a dog, get a dog. Just care for it and allow it to care for you.
I have had a dog or dogs most of my life. I like dogs. I get along well with most dogs. I’d rather not own one, and after our basset died I thought we were done. Nope. My wife found a local breeder and got a dachshund. I told her before she got it the dog was her responsibility, not mine. So each night when I get home I have to walk the dog. She recognizes me as the alpha.
Why don’t I want a dog? Can’t leave ‘‘em alone for more then half a day. No spontaneous trips out of town.
I’ve also had a cat most of my life. Much easier. Leave them a clean litter box, a big food bowl, and a big water supply, and they’re good for a few days by themselves. I now have 3. Got two additional while my wife and the dog were visiting grandkids for the summer. My wife was a little irritated at that when she got back, mostly because all 5 children knew and didn’t tell her. She’s gotten used to the two new ones. The two older ones are as big as the dachshund who’s learned her boundaries with them. The kitten, about the same age as the dog plays chase each other around with her. All 4 are females. Female cats and dogs are much easier to deal with. I told my wife no male dogs, period, when she set her mind to getting another dog.
We have a rescue dog. She is quite frantic in some situations, yes. So we avoid those situations (some are unavoidable, alas, like fireworks on the 4th), like any good dog-owner.
Right now she's curled up on the couch beside me. This is her "I'm patiently waiting for you to feed me dinner" pose.
We're going to kill it.
Euthanize it.
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Abortion
What a PETA (sic).
Ode to a precious purring pussy. My dear Dante.
The dog we had before this one was a big mixed breed--pa was a big basset and ma was a large long legged Jack Russell. "Bloomer" got the length and long legs, along with a beautiful short double coat in white, with dark spots like a Holstein.
She was stupid, crazy, and evil, but we chose her from a classified ad (remember those?) and picked her up (my wife did, anyway), and we loved her.
I think it was better for our son to have experience of the nuttiness of mutts, and we did have a lot of fun with her for 14 years.
My brother had to put his Black Lab and Brittany down in the same year, different seasons. He had a hole in his heart from that, and never had another.
As is patently obvious, article was written by an urban douchenozzle. Bottom line, you live in a 500 sq.ft. urban shithole, aka apartment, get a hamster or a gerbil or, better yet, rescue some of the uncountable rats infesting your paradise.
I don't care what Atlantic thinks.
The question really is, Why would the Atlantic possibly think anyone cares about the Atlantic thinks.
Always had a mix of dogs and cats around. I dont care how you feel about that. My faith informs my I have dominion over all Gods Creatures. Now excuse me, as my dry aged handcut ribeyes are about to come of the grill.
"And the way people live today, they may plan to keep the dog indoors nearly all the time.
City folk, Ann. City folk. When my kids were living in an apartment complex, I was shocked at how many of these people had large breed dogs that were cooped up all day while their owners were off at their cubicle farm. Miserable! And working dogs, too. German Shepherds, Malamutes, etc. All half crazy.
But all us country folk treat'em a little bit different. They know they have to earn their keep, and fulfill the expectation.
If you're not treating them like they're family, you're doing it wrong. They are family. We don't deserve dogs.
The last one was the last one. Not going to have any more.
"The last one was the last one. Not going to have any more."
Famous last words. I've said them. There are two furry furies near me at this moment.
One I traveled to a shelter south of here to pick up a dog that was tossed from a moving car. He'd been chipped at the shelter my wife managed. Apparently that makes them yours. He would have been sent to Maine for adoption, buy Alabama was too cold for the little guy in his emaciated state. So I "fostered" him.... sucker.
The other was 1.12 pounds and nearly dead. Got down to one pound and we thought she would not make it. Would not eat until we tried goat's milk. Lots of medical care and the "she'll weigh about 5 pounds" is now a contented 15 pounder.
A pain when we travel, and we travel a LOT. But fortunately we are a clan of dog people and care for our own.
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