“My girlfriend is making me choose between her and my dog,” a close friend of mine shared his ordeal. Being a dog owner, I completely understand that – it is indeed a difficult situation. Besides helping my friend, I have decided to pen down a whole article on relationship issues when a pooch kicks in.
If you are a person facing the same problem, you will have to decide what is best for you, your dog, and your girlfriend. I am not going to make that decision for you. Instead, I am going to list the pros and cons of choosing your dog over your girlfriend and otherwise. After weighing the pros and cons of both choices and assessing your situation, you have to make the final decision.
However, before you start thinking about choosing between your girlfriend and your dog, you should first try to discover the underlying reasons and solve them. If your girlfriend is only pushing you to make that hard decision because your dog seems to hate her, you should check out various ways to make your dog get along with your girlfriend.
Did You Know?
A poll of about 200 British people shows that one in three dog owners prefer their pooches over their partners when it comes to choosing between the two.
My Girlfriend Is Making Me Choose Between Her and My Dog: Why Your Dog Might Win?
Your pup might be irritating to your girlfriend – but there is no denying that some of his qualities are priceless.
Your Dog Cares for You
If care is your need, know that dogs care for their owners because they see them as a part of their pack family. If a dog is well bonded through training, he might even see his owner as a pack leader.
Dogs are insanely devoted and loyal to their human beings – guard dogs are alert and active even when there is no visible threat to the owners. Besides thinking of you as a pack member, your dog might also care for you because he thinks of you as his parent. Considering you are a provider and protector, your pooch will develop a strong bond with you as if both of you were blood-related.
Dogs know when we are sad. S,o whenever you are having a bad day, your doggo will always be there to cuddle you and make you laugh with his antics.
Your Dog Loves You
Significant others are not the only ones who love you; science has proven that dogs love their owners. Due to the reasons discussed under the previous heading, dogs develop a close attachment with their human pals manifested in their behavior. The biggest plus in canine love is that it is always unconditional, as opposed to human beings, where affection is mostly due to some benefits one has.
Dogs manifest their love in various forms, such as wagging their tail, licking their human beings, being physically near, etc.
Your Dog Is Always Excited About You
If compared to human beings, dogs never get irritated by petty things. Unless your pooch suffers any health issue or you have done something to hurt your dog, your dog will never ignore you.
He will always be happy and excited when he sees you. Dogs do have oxytocin – a hormone responsible for their friendship, social bonds, and excitement. All dog owners witness this hormone in action when they come back home: overjoyed, their fidos rush towards them to reunite.
Your Dog Will Relieve You of Depression
Relationships are great for our mental health if they work awesome; otherwise, they cause depression. But for dogs, only the first case is valid. With their utmost joy, zeal, cuteness, and excitement, pets like dogs are true stress busters.
Research suggests that by simply fondling a dog, we can decrease our cortisol, a stress-causing hormone. Similarly, some other studies suggest that not just dogs but petting other animals also leads to reduced feelings of loneliness, increased social support attitude, and a significant boost to the mind and thinking power.
Your Dog Is Good for Your Physical Health
Human beings are, no doubt, great partners when it comes to physical activities – but they are lazy too. On the other hand, though lazy dog breeds also exist, canines are most well-known for their active and energetic lifestyle.
Dog owners get more physical activities than those who do not own any – thanks to their exercise needs. Besides, some dogs are high-energy breeds and make their owners work even hard to cater to their exercise needs. Harvard Health suggests that dog owners tend to have lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglyceride levels.
Did You Know?
A 2019 study shows that dog owners walk about 300 minutes every week, which is 200 minutes more than those who walk without a dog.
My Girlfriend Is Making Me Choose Between Her and My Dog: Why Your Girlfriend Might Win?
Dogs are invaluable – but some arguments your girlfriend throws or some drawbacks you suffer by keeping a dog are well-founded.
Your Girlfriend Has Allergies
Dog allergies are real. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, allergies to cats and dogs affect 10 to 20% of the world’s population.
If your girlfriend is making you choose between her and your dog, it may not mean that she hates your dog. It just means that she has a problem that needs to be addressed.
Talk to her, consult her allergist, and see if there are safe ways for her to co-exist with your dog. There are also some dogs considered hypoallergenic, where the chances of contracting allergies are minimal compared to non-hypoallergenic dogs.
Girlfriends Do Not Need Training
A good life partner always knows beforehand what to do in different situations for the best interest. On the other hand, dogs either do only certain things, or they might need effective training to be well-behaved.
Dogs are generally easy to train, especially adults or those who are socialized well. Moreover, it is always a joyful experience to get a pooch to learn. However, some dogs are hard to train because of several reasons. For instance, Dogue de Bordeaux is a stubborn breed and does not easily obey commands well. Similarly, Beagles don’t focus on their training sessions as they always have too many things on their mind.
Dogs Need Time
Well, girlfriends need time too, but that time can be invested in family building, business planning, and a lot of other stuff. On the other hand, dogs need at least one to two hours every day of dedicated attention.
This time is usually spent on feeding, training, exercise, cuddling, and general activities. Though the time is surely not wasted, if you are a person who has a relationship or financial management issues, the idea of getting or keeping a dog might not be so easy.
Dogs Might Disturb Your Sleep
Yes, guard dogs give us a good night’s sleep by protecting us. But there is an opposite case as well. If you have a dog, your sleep might be disturbed. For instance, some dogs bark while sleeping, waking you up in the middle of the night. Similarly, some studies conclude that sleeping with dogs in the same room or the same bed can be related to health problems in human beings.
Girlfriends Are Cleaner
Although dogs contribute to the well-being of their owners, they do spread germs around the home. Age and gender are no exceptions in such a case: your puppy might spread a variety of germs around the house that might make humans in the house sick. Moreover, even if your dog is super-clean, the chances of coming into contact with his urine or fecal matter still exist.
Note that this particular reason why your girlfriend might win can be a dangerous point for your dog. If your girlfriend is pregnant or you have kids as well, you need to maintain a hygienic environment, and, therefore, you need to carefully evaluate the risks and their management before you decide in either’s favor.
Some Dogs Are Dangerous for Kids
Aggressive dog breeds as well as some other dogs might not behave well with kids. Though it all depends largely on training and socialization, the chances of your dog hurting your children still exist (especially if your kids are mischievous!).
If you have such a pooch at home, your girlfriend’s argument can be valid. So, you should only get a kid-friendly dog. Besides that, to make sure that your dog gets along with your kids, you should provide your pup with social training at a young age so that he grows up to be a well-behaved canine citizen. You may also want to teach your kids how to behave around dogs.
My Girlfriend Is Making Me Choose Between Her and My Dog: Final Words
Making you choose between her and your dog, your girlfriend is setting you up for a lose-lose situation. If you choose your dog, you will lose your girlfriend; if you choose your girlfriend, you will lose your canine companion. So perhaps, you should try to make your girlfriend understand that your dog is part of your family.
If you are considering choosing your girlfriend over your dog, know this: relationships do not always last. If I leave my dog for my girlfriend and a few months down the road, my girlfriend decides to leave me, I will be heartbroken. I will neither have a girlfriend nor a dog.
So, choose wisely!