What Does the Dog tell you about the Guy?

[snowski/swimmouse]

Does the dog help you pick out the right guy?

I was standing in front of my kitchen window fixing lunch when the most adorable dog walked by. I followed the leash to the other end and was surprised at the cute guy! Divas are the smartest wisest group I know, so the question is Can the dog indicate a good guy?

 

[newboots]

People with dogs on leashes are often easier to meet. Just introduce yourself to the dog! If he's a dog lover, that's a good sign in itself.

(Although my friend Kathy dated a guy who was so concerned that his dog be able to sleep in his favorite spot on the bed that . . . let's just say, she didn't feel like a big priority in his life!)

 

[va_deb]

I think so, although I’m admittedly biased. Many of y’all know that I’m an unapologetic dog lover, especially rescue and shelter mutts (or purebreds obtained via a breed rescue group).

The mixier the mix, the more intriguing the dog is to me — though purebreds can be great too. (That said, it makes me sad that more than 5 million healthy, adoptable puppies and dogs are euthanized each year. Purebred pet store puppies come from puppy mills, and often breeders you find online seem and look like reputable folks but are in fact backyard breeders or puppy mill fronts.) Sorry, back to topic...

I love guessing what breeds mixes are, and that’s a great way to strike up a conversation on the street or at a dog park if you see an owner on the other end of the leash who you would like to get to know better.
;-)

If any of you are single dog-lovers without a dog of your own, I wouldn’t be shy about going out of your way to meet dog-owning single guys.

Offer to dog sit for a friend or neighbor. If the dog has the right temperament and the owner is ok with it take the dog to a dog park, to dog friendly shops and neighborhoods and outdoor cafes in good weather, and to dog-friendly stores. Some Lowe’s, Home Depots and REIs are dog friendly and tend to have single men. Some of them have changed policies or let the local management decide, and some will look the other way even if not officially dog friendly.

You can also do very flexible volunteer work if you can’t have a dog of your own and want to meet new people.

 

[va_deb]

IMO men who own dogs have a leg up on non-dog owners. You know that they are responsible and selfless enough to care for something other than themselves, and more than likely they are at least somewhat physically active.

When I was single I was especially curious about how a guy decided on a certain dog. Did he get it from a shelter or rescue group? Raise a purebred from a puppy? If the latter, I ask how he chose that dog breed and where he got the dog from.

I listen for clues that he did some research and took his decision to get a dog that would be a good match seriously, vs. just because he liked the way a certain breed looks or acts.

If he says his dog came from a pet store, to me that’s a red flag that he didn’t do much research first and the puppy was an impulse buy.

If he says the dog came from a breeder I ask how he found the breeder, and then ask more questions to ascertain whether it’s from a reputatble breeder, or a front for a backyard breeder or a puppy mill.

Just my bias: I like men who do their homework and research major decisions, especially about something big like bringing a dog or a puppy into their life.

Also, if you watch a dog for a friend or neighbor and go to the local dog park, women who are regulars there may know the scoop on guys who come often and what they are like, how long they’ve been single, etc.

Dog parks can be great places to make female and male friends. I actually met my better half through a dog park female friend who fixed me up with him. He didn’t have a dog at the time but, she knew he liked her dogs and that he was new in town and single.

I had been on a bunch of meh to bad blind dates over the years and had better luck generally with online dating than fix ups. I finally agreed to let my dog park friend subtly introduce us casually without making a big deal out of it.

The rest, as they say, is history. Almost 9 years later we’re still together. When we moved in together less than 6 months after we met he became the Dad to my two rescue dogs. We lost our oldest 3 years ago to cancer and we’ve since adopted 2 more together, so now we have a 3-pack.

When people ask us how we met, I say “through the dogs.” I only met him because my dog park buddy got to know him and then decided that she needed to fix us up.

Also, he and Ski Dvas are why I’m a successful late in life skier who went from 40-something newbie to gearhead instead of being a 40-something who tried it once and gave up.