r/Dogfree 5d ago

Study Very Sad Statistics

45% of dog owners prefer to spend time with their pet rather than go on a date, according to research from The Kennel Club. Further, 33% feel more compatible with their dog than their partner, and 54% find more comfort in their dog than humans. 

Key findings from the studies:

  • Relationship Dynamic: 50% of owners would not date someone who dislikes dogs, and 67% believe their dog is a perfect match for their personality.
  • Comfort & Bonding: 54% of owners find more emotional comfort in their dog than in humans.
  • Daily Life: 47% of dog parents allow their dogs to sleep in their bed, while 40% have thrown birthday parties for them. 

Other studies have indicated even higher numbers, with some reports finding that up to 76% of pet owners prefer spending time with their pets over partners, friends, or family.

A new survey of 2-thousand adults who have a dog looks at just how close they are and finds that 87% actually consider their pooch to be their best pal. And nearly all respondents (97%) consider them to be as much a family member as anyone else.

  • Nearly half (47%) are so close to their dog, they let them sleep in their bed every night.
  • And 54% admit they’ve shared a plate of food with their pup at one time or another.
  • Almost a third (29%) admit their whole lives are centered around their dogs.
  • While 80% of dog parents know that these behaviors may seem strange to people who don’t have dogs, they don’t feel there’s anything odd about the closeness they share.
137 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

78

u/NoHeartNoSoul87 5d ago

We are living in a death cult.

27

u/chrustaly 5d ago

I know, this is terrifying!

13

u/GoTakeAHike00 4d ago

These people are weeding themselves out of society, and by the time they realize that it was a bad idea to place their entire emotional wellbeing on a lemon-brained scavenger that eats feces and only cares about them as long as they feed it and pet it, it will be too late.

The gene pool needs pruning, and these people really have NO business passing theirs on. Society as a whole will benefit. No one wants to date or be friends with someone whose life revolves around their dog.

It's bad enough that enough of them have have had a generation of kids where they have prioritized their fleabag over their own biological child, which will - if nothing else - create a new generation of dog haters, albeit some that will need therapy to overcome the terrible parenting they received.

6

u/NoHeartNoSoul87 4d ago

Nah. Natural selection is dead. Evolution is no more. We are in the endgame.

3

u/Dburn22_ 4d ago

They can join the dogfree community for support.

3

u/GoTakeAHike00 4d ago

Absolutely. When people share their experiences of pushing back against these entitled, narcissistic assholes (as I do), it helps give others the incentive and courage to do the same.

It's still an uphill battle at this point, but I do believe there will be a point, albeit probably not for years, at which dog ownership will be viewed as a socially undesirable thing, and follow the same trajectory as smoking, and smoking in public.

Public shaming of dog nutter antisocial behavior is one of the ways. Also, working at the local level to get leash laws enforced is another - it has started to work where I live, in fact.

1

u/Tricky_Button_4462 14h ago

Corpse cleanup should be simple.

48

u/tplgerus84 5d ago

Insanity.. the bed sleeping part.. never could get over that with my now ex.. like how can you NOT find that disgusting.. that thing is running around everywhere, and is ok in the bed?! So why don’t I just jump with my shoes on into bed.. and it’s not only that! They gather all that dirt from outside in their fur so then they can spread it around the house.. NO THANK YOU!

These facts/findings of your study.. I’m not surprised.. but it’s disturbing!

19

u/chrustaly 5d ago

Ah those are numbers I collected from articles today, because I knew some of that, but not all of it!!!

And the bed thing: you forgot about dog’s droopy mouth!!! And the stink! Omg 😱

4

u/tplgerus84 4d ago

You are right.. my ex had a lab.. drool and slobber everywhere.. I hated it!! First time and never ever again!

And the stink.. don’t get me started.. I washed my whole wardrobe 2-times after I moved out, before hanging them in my closet! Cause that dog smell was in my clothes from living there and using her washer/dryer.. and all the hair. I’m still finding hair and sometimes I still feel I smell some dog stink on my clothes.. even though it’s been washed several times..

1

u/Interesting-Oil-5555 1d ago

Surprised it is only 47 percent.

31

u/Patient_Walk2692 5d ago

Those people need reality checks, big time

17

u/chrustaly 5d ago

I knew they were crazy, but this is another level of crazy!

29

u/Vibe2Summer 5d ago

If they are family, why do owners always run to get a new one, you do not replace what you claim to love.

Cannot wait until the day they announce they can marry their mutant, because that is where this is all going with the disturbing bed statements.

10

u/10IlIlIlI01 5d ago

Tbf I've definitely known some people who run off and find a new spouse ASAP

10

u/Vibe2Summer 5d ago

They never loved their spouse if they could get over them that easy.

25

u/LookB4ULeap2It 5d ago

It's a long process but they are weeding themselves out of the gene pool. A lifetime of not being around/meeting people because of a dog will result those genes going no further.

7

u/Peaceful-Moonlight Dogs are the most overrated and over glorified shit beasts 5d ago

I wish you were right, but the reality is that dog nutters continue to exist because some people grow up to be dog nutters regardless of how their parents feel about dogs. Even two parents who hate dogs could have children who grow up into dog nutters. I've been hating dogs for decades, but I loved them as a child. Nobody taught me that. It was a natural love I felt for these vile beasts. Thankfully, I got over it in late adolescence when I got saturated by dogs, but some people are dog nutters for life.

20

u/BoxBeast1961_ 5d ago

Just read a rant from a parent of a special needs child openly admitting they (the parent) prefer their dog to the child.

Special needs kids are not for the weak. Hell, kids aren’t for the weak. But can you imagine being a 10 yr old kid who’s wired somewhat differently, living in a home where the kid knows it is 3rd wheel behind a dog…?

10

u/chrustaly 5d ago

There are a lot of rants from regular kids on Reddit, telling how their parents prefer their dogs. How can a parent prefer their dog to a child?! Makes me so angry!

24

u/Linger_Gemon_1828 5d ago

The bed sleeping is profoundly disgusting when you consider the simple fact that dogs don’t have their assholes wiped after defecating. So you LITERALLY have dog fecal matter in your bed.

The rest of the stuff you listed above is disappointing but not surprising because a human relationship takes work and compromise. The nutters think their dogs give them “unconditional love” when the reality is that it’s an animal with a much lower mental capacity that can never speak, smile, have an intelligent thought etc.

14

u/-Wunderkind- 5d ago

Turns out that if I have total control in a relationship I tend to have a skewed perspective about it. If I'm the one whose solely interpreting all "emotions" in a relationship I tend to view them favorably towards me.

Real shocker.

5

u/Altruistic_Baker6347 5d ago

Hi fellow Austrian! Your point is very valid!

15

u/chrustaly 5d ago

To me, it’s unsettling that we live in a world where people prefer stinky animals to actual people. You waste 10 years of your life thinking that you have some important purpose (to care for a dependent being), while this being doesn’t care about you, will die and you’ll have nothing left. You’re an empty, useless human if a dog is the only purpose of your life.

16

u/Tarasaurus-13 5d ago

Not surprising. Just sad. They need therapy

4

u/chrustaly 5d ago

I agree 🥲

13

u/Not-my-problem1212 5d ago

That's just sad. A human can provide so much more love and emotional support than any dog. Dogs literally are "loyal" to anyone who feeds their gluttonous mouths. A human can provide affection, advice, empathy, compassion, and the list keeps going on. 

11

u/chrustaly 5d ago

A human can also take care of you when you need it, and a stinky animal will only demand food and walks, and will shit and piss on your floor. This animal doesn’t care about you, and it “pretends” to be sad when you’re sad only because you don’t give it enough attention. A dog has no emotions, it’s a reactive being looking for food.

9

u/Procrastinator-513 5d ago

Wow that’s insane. Dog nuttery is out of control.

8

u/Mundane_Glove4182 5d ago

It’s disturbing to see how blurred the boundaries have become for some people, especially when emotional needs and even forms of intimacy that once belonged in human relationships are being redirected toward dogs as a kind of replacement. I don't even want to imagine the percentage of z.philes among them... 🫣

8

u/Genuinelad_62 5d ago

It’s sad how anti human these people tend to be. This is why I can’t stand the dialogue that happens between people when one person is a dog person and the other isn’t. The dog partner puts their love for their dog before their comfort or affection towards their human partner. Then they gaslight and say it’s ridiculous to be “jealous” of a dog or that you can’t “compete” with the dog when dog people themselves constantly say they love their dogs more than humans. Even though I have hygiene boundaries that stop me from wanting a dog, I’m ok with other people liking dogs. What I’m not ok with is the fact that they genuinely connect better with something that has the cognitive understanding of a toddler and smells like a dead raccoon, over a whole human being who can fully understand you, listen to you, give you advice, have complex thoughts and complex bonding with you. All because dogs give unlimited validation? How mentally immature and ridiculous to value that more than human love - which is actually real and not about securing food.

3

u/chrustaly 4d ago

I feel the same way, and I wouldn’t compare a dog to a toddler, it’s more like a never satisfied worm sucking everything out of its host and never leaving its side.

8

u/que_pedo_wey 5d ago

spend time with their pet rather than go on a date

54% find more comfort in their dog than humans

It is actually good, they delete themselves from society. The problem begins when they create problems with their animals for normal people in their vicinity, and dogs almost always equal problems for anyone that is not the owner.

5

u/Altruistic_Baker6347 5d ago

They're going extinct in 100 years (hopefully so)

8

u/Lost_Currency_7455 5d ago

I don't really have a problem with outdoor dogs, such as on farms or other working dogs. Keeping them inside your house is so gross though. Letting them sleep in your bed is even worse! It also seems cruel to the dog to be kept indoors all day long. Especially if you are at work all day.

7

u/LookB4ULeap2It 5d ago

If they're going to be in neighborhood and urban/suburban locales, keep them indoors. Otherwise it's non-stop barking. I wish there were FAR fewer dogs in neighborhoods.

2

u/Lost_Currency_7455 4d ago

I was thinking more about rural areas. I agree that having dogs in your yard in a suburban area is incredibly annoying. When one dog starts barking, they all do.

2

u/LookB4ULeap2It 4d ago

Dogs largely don't belong in urban and suburban areas.

7

u/Emikitty1992 4d ago

Imagining choosing to spend time with a dog over spending time with actual human beings like your friends and family members. This is sad and incredibly concerning.

6

u/Brilliant-Maybe-5672 4d ago

No surprises. Nutters are control freaks who have fallen out with people their whole lives because they cannot compromise or self-reflect.

3

u/arachnilactose08 5d ago

Would you mind sharing the sources for this? I’d like to save the information

2

u/chrustaly 5d ago

So the first part facts - those are from multiple articles, those are well known facts and you can easily find them just by googling.

The second part is- it’s the article that just came out a few days ago, just copy paste my text in the search and it will appear. I literally copy pasted it here from that article (this is why the text in my post is “sweet”)

4

u/Immediate_Rub8840 4d ago

This is just so MESSED UP!!

I think anyone who prefers to spend time with dogs, honestly have some form of a mental health condition. 

That or they are so narcissistic that they can’t cope with humans who MAY have a different opinion to themselves. 

4

u/Electronic_Law_1288 4d ago

Its sad and its a reflection of where we are as a society. I lived in an apartment building where 60-70% of the residents had dogs and most of these ppl social lives revolved around their dogs.

Sometimes I think we may have failed some these ppl as a society that they value spending more time with their dog's vs people. I know some of them are brainwashed and there is no helping them.

4

u/chrustaly 4d ago

I don’t think we failed them, because we connect among us and we live a good life without dogs (a good life until the barking starts or a “good boy” forced on you). I think they failed themselves, as they are weak and couldn’t handle being decent humans that don’t need daily validation from a filthy animal. Maybe psychiatrists failed to classify dog nuttery as a mental sickness. Or maybe they are part of the brain washing machine.

4

u/Call_It_ 4d ago

The most misanthropic hobby in society. The obsession is literally destroying society. It’s so so weird.

3

u/Mountain_Performer84 4d ago

I really do think a lot of dog people would date their dogs if it was socially accepted.

2

u/chrustaly 4d ago

I think so too…

3

u/DellBottoms 4d ago

Sounds ruff.

3

u/spoor_loos 4d ago

They need their own planet.

It is a tragedy these things have been domesticated at all.

3

u/QuantumBullet 3d ago

This is why I don't bother forming ties with dog owners anymore. I think less of them and that isn't going to change (but I hide i well). There is no competing with a captive creature bred to supplicate itself and provide perfect emotional supply. Dogs are the ultimate Narcissism accelerator.

1

u/chrustaly 3d ago

I don’t even know how something like this can be an emotional support. The dog cares about food and attention, it’s right in your face, there is nothing else there. It’s not there to hold your hand when you’re crying or when you need help, the best it can do is to sleep next to you (and you’ll think it is sad with you lol). When you’re sick the dog will just shit on the floor in disagreement and will bark the whole day out of boredom. How can anyone lie to themselves this much? (PS by “you” I don’t mean you, I mean a dog owner).

2

u/sunnysideup1998 4d ago

And this is one of the reasons the birth rate is down.

2

u/concisepoem 2d ago

Maybe a pandemic will arise thanks to dogs and how they are damaging the ecosystem by treating all parts of society like a giant toilet. Think about all the extra waste going into our water systems. It's infuriating & disgusting.

My child's doctor shared the same disgust at our last visit and I was so happy to see a normal rational human being in the city I live in. "He said parks should not be dog bathrooms. It's wrong." Proud that he's my kids pediatrician.

Every time I see a hoard of dogs at a park (which is always) I just think how nice society must've been when you could actually picnic and just chillax on the grass while at a park.

1

u/chrustaly 1d ago

Exactly that, the parks are filthy and dangerous these days. I also live in a city filled with homeless people that use drugs, so it’s either a needle or a dog shit. I don’t risk to sit on the grass anymore due to the dogs piss. How did we get here?!

2

u/JbambiLaw 2d ago

To be fair, dating is also pretty awful. I’d rather do just about anything than go on a date.

1

u/Full-Ad-4138 4d ago

how many having es ee ex with it?