Where Do Dog Lovers Come From?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Have you ever asked yourself if dog lovers are born that way or are taught to love dogs by the people surrounding them?  I really don’t know the answer, but I suspect you are born a dog lover.  My mom was actually afraid of dogs and I never remember my dad mentioning a dog one way or another, but my earliest memories are of me wanting a dog. My two sisters weren’t dippy over dogs and my one sister has never owned a dog, yet I am sure we had the same parents. We had a neighbor who kept his dog in a kennel with a big shed like doghouse that he cooled in the summer and heated in the winter, but I still felt sorry for that dog.  Even at a young age, I felt it was wrong to have a dog and keep it separate from the household.  I never liked that neighbor and I have no real memory of him other than I didn’t like how he treated his dog.  I was warned to stay away from the dog, but like most things my mother told me not to do, it just made it that much more enticing.  I would sneak over and talk to the dog and always hoped it would run away to find a better home. 

 

When I started having kids I was too busy for a dog and really didn’t want to add one more thing to the household that I had to take care of and nurture.  I never said to my kids I wanted a dog. Yet, my oldest daughter came out of the womb wanting a dog and although I made no baby books or kept any notes about when she did what, I am sure her first word was probably dog, followed closely by I want.  She didn’t stop saying it until she got her dog at age ten, although she did add, “I don’t want to walk the dog anymore, I don’t want to pick up the dog’s poop again, and I don’t want to get up early and let the dog out,” shortly after Hershey came home. I do have to say for every hypothesis there has to be a slight margin for error, which may explain why my youngest was terrified of dogs, but became a diehard dog lover after we got Hershey.  Before that, if she saw a dog approaching, even the lovable Lab that lived in our neighborhood, she would call forth the most horrible ear splitting screams that could stop traffic.  She was another reason I balked at getting a dog for the oldest because I just couldn’t see myself living with a puppy and a child who had conniption fits every time the puppy took a step in her direction. With my luck I would end up with a puppy with a nervous tic that thought “Knock it off, Hayley,” was her name.

 

Genetics is a funny thing.  I know people who are not dog lovers, but gave birth to dog lovers. How can you explain it, other than to say someone was born a dog lover?  How can it be a nurture thing when no one is nurturing a love of dogs?  There are just so many things unexplained in the world of parents and children and I, myself, a certified shopper extraordinaire gave birth to a child who hates to shop.  I would also like to add I did my best to turn this child into a shopper and did everything short of dropping twenty-dollar bills on the way into the store to give her a little incentive to get with the program.  Nothing worked.  She does two things upon entering a store.  Either she gloms onto to me like a suction cup to impair my ability to move quickly in and out of the aisles or she asks, “Can we go get something to eat?” I can point to the clearance rack and tell her to take a look for something new and all she does is turn her face up in disdain like she just smelled something foul and says, “I don’t see anything I like, but I would like to go to lunch now.” Meanwhile, my other daughter and I have already mapped out the store, divvied up our shopping list for the best possible outcome, scouted out the sales, promised to alert each other to anything good, set up a future meet up place to go over our loot, and high fived for good luck, all in the time it takes the non-shopper to realize lunch will be delayed. 

 

I think Lady Gaga has it right in her song where she sings, “I was born this way,” although, there is hope for some people not born dog lovers.  My son-in-law was one of them, but luckily for him, he married the right gal who picked out the right dog that worked his doggie magic and the rest as they say, “is history.”  I think we dog lovers can turn some of these people around and I think the right dog, if given half a chance, could turn some others.  I also think dogs have so much to teach us and help us live better lives and I feel very lucky to have known that my entire life.  Now, if I could just turn that non-shopper around, life would be good.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Good question Laurie! I was afraid of dogs and I'm still afraid of some dogs. I had no dogs around me growing up, my parents aren't "dog lovers" but they do spoil the grand-dogs when they go to visit. My mom used to make tea and toast for my first dog. :>) My mom was and is still afraid of dogs and isn't really comfortable with them. All three of her children are dog lovers. My dad is more of an animal lover and can usually be seen being followed around by a flock of ducks, he was raising them for food but that didn't happen. :>) Of course, how could you not love a doodle?

[DJ & Chance]

So there was an article in Psychology Today some time back in which the author found that genetics had about the same influence on our "play with pets" frequency as they have on the frequency of female orgasm.  I kid you not.  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animals-and-us/201209/are-you-a...

[Christine & Camus]

I had an odd start to dog love. I was told that I use to scream when I was very young whenever I saw a dog, except for my Great Aunt's dog Ginger, who I loved.  Ginger was a boxer and by no means a quiet, calm dog, but I will never forget her.  My family had cats, lots of cats, and only one dog who died very young.  But my love of dogs and animals in general was formed.  Due to living in apartments I could not get a dog as soon as I wanted to, bu my son managed to bring in a long list of pets, first a pet rat named Henrietta, then his cat, Comet, followed by huge fish tanks of Ciclids, a bird, and finally a snake named Bob.  We got our first dog, Rozanne, before Bobs arrival and one night while we were asleep Roxanne began barking at my bedroom door.  Then I heard a knocking - Knock,Knock, Knock, and no response when I asked who was there.  I knew it wasn't my son because he would just have opened the door.  I got scared but opened the door anyway and there was Bob knocking at my door!  That was it Bob had to go!

So we were a pet loving family (sans snakes), but dogs have always been my favorite. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I got my first dog at age five.  She was perfect and truly my heart dog. For a few years my dh and I were cat people, but we came back from the dark side into the doggy world again.  Just wish I could get rid of the shedding - oh well.... maybe next time.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Even though both my mom and my dad had dogs as children, they were not doggie adults and so we were not a doggie family.  We did, however, have our share of cats!!  After I got married and had our daughter, we realized that our lifestyle was not really conducive to dog ownership.  All three of us were busy beyond belief, so a dog would have been home by him/herself too much, which didn't seem right.  So we were a cat family.  Fast forward to our daughter's second year in college and her first year in an apartment.  Before the ink on the lease was dry, her boyfriend (who is now her husband) gave her a puppy!  I thought she was crazy, but it worked out great and Dixie was a wonderful dog - really the first dog I'd ever really known up close and personal.  Then my husband retired and had "too much free time" - so at our daughter's urging, along came Sedona.  So much like Jane C., I'm a late-onset dog lover.  Now as far as shopping - I have a love/hate relationship.  I love shopping in general, but hate shoe shopping as I rarely find a store that carries my ridiculously small size!!  My mother HATES shopping so I know I didn't get that gene from her.  The small feet, yes - that came from her!!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I grew up with cats.My Dad got my Mum one when they were first married, and we never went more than a few months without a cat. First thing I did when i moved to Canada was to adopt 2 cats! DH on the other hand grew up with dogs. it wasnt til I met him that i thought Id like a dog and remembered my Mum telling me about the "teddy bear" dog breed - which lead me to Cooper! I was sooo excited waiting to get her, but it did take me a while to love her (maybe a few weeks, whereas with my cats it was love at first sight!). I never remember my Mum wanting a dog, or saying anything about a dog, but she has since told me she always wanted one as a child. Her favourite thing to do when she visits is go on walks with Cooper. I have always loved all animals - ive had rabbits, chinchillas, degus, a rat, hamsters, fish..... my sister hated them all! She tolerated the cat. She married someone the same as her - he grew up with dogs, but never really liked them.  they will never have a pet. But their eldest daughter, Annie (she just turned 3), loves cats and dogs. Whenever we skype i have to show her all 3 cats and the dog, send her pictures and videos, she can spot a cat or dog a mile away. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

I have always loved dogs.  We had a lab mix when I was very young that was supposed to be my brother's dog, but I took care of him, too.  He was a crazy wonderful lab that ripped apart our yard and all my sister's flowers-who was not, and to this day, is not a dog lover.  When we had to move, it was really difficult to find an apartment that allowed a big dog.  My mother had taken me with her to see one apartment, and when the landlady said "sorry no dogs"  I started to cry. Bless her heart (her nickname was Kitty) she relented even though her husband hated dogs. The dog hated him, too- another story but the dog was right!  After that, our Buster got walked by my brother and then me when my brother joined the AF. I can still bring back the memories of those walks in the different seasons on that Brooklyn street, especially willing him to hurry up and poop when it was really cold!  The dog got sick, and I would carry that 85 lb dog up and down the flight of stairs to our apartment.  Poor boy should have been put down, but died in my brother's room and I was too scared and sad to be with him.  

So- yes for the dog gene- NO for the shop gene!  Laurie, your description of the non-shopping daughter would be exactly how my older sister would describe me from all the times she tried to drag me shopping with her! ! I always pulled the "Let's get lunch" card.  Yeah internet shopping... 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Clearly the dog loving gene and the shopping loving gene are not inherited together. I hate to shop.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I really haven't thought about this very much surprisingly. But I wanted a dog from the time I was a child. No one else in he family did. I was overjoyed when my aunt's family got a cocker spaniel who I came to adore. But it took me many decades to get my own dogs : )
And your mom always makes sense to me, Joanne.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

My mother likes animals but does not like to touch them.  Odd, but she was able to convey how to be kind, compassionate, caring,  and gentle to animals to her own children. How does that happen? When she was a girl, he brother died from Cat Scratch Fever ( 1929 ).  Still, we had animals in our home, but the care was solely on us and it better be done and done correctly!

Many times, asleep in my room, I could hear my mother talking to the cat.  Such a sweet voice.  "  Yes, I am boiling chicken just for you.  You are such a sweet kitty kitty"  Etc.

But she just hates them close.  My kids, when younger, loved MY animals, but asked that the cats not sleep in their rooms, they never picked them up, squeezed them, drug them around.  But then again, I never told them, " This is YOUR animal"   They were always just family. And like family, you treat family living under the same roof with respect.

The question I want to know is why do the animals always approach the ones who really could care less and don't want to be touched? ( Mainly my mom and my oldest son)

Mom tells me, animals don't like to be approached, picked up squeezed, and too much attention.  They find it respectful to be approached slowly or totally ignored for awhile.

So, WOW.  The person who really does not like animals too close, gets approached too much, because they show them respect.   Okay, I'm making no sense.