Life with a dog is rewarding for many reasons, which is why it’s important to take good care of the four-legged friend. But not everyone is equally enchanted by the idea of taking daily walks and making sure the critter is living their best life.
This redditor’s boyfriend, for instance, couldn’t be bothered to take his girlfriend’s dog out for a walk. While he loved Spud, the dog, and snuggled with him all the time, when he was asked to take him outside, the boyfriend came up with a rather foolish reason not to do it.
A dog is called a man’s best friend for a reason
Image credits: sarandy westfall (not the actual photo)
Though this man didn’t want to “spoil” his girlfriend’s dog
Image credits: DC_Studio (not the actual photo)
Image credits: anonymous
Owning a dog brings numerous benefits for a person’s well-being
Dog owners are clearly biased, but I believe that if you ask any of them if life is better with a doggo, they would say yes. (And as a dog owner myself, I wholeheartedly agree.) They bring fun into our lives by constantly being up for playtime, they make sure we get enough exercise and fresh air by, well, taking us on daily walks outside, and provide overwhelmingly cute content in our camera rolls.
While these might look like arguments made out of thin air, the American Kennel Club found that there are science-based benefits of owning a dog, one of which—and an important one—is a reduced sense of loneliness. Doggos can also help manage people’s levels of stress and aid us in recovery after a difficult time or a crisis.
Moreover, as previously mentioned, dogs help people get in their daily exercise, as studies suggest that dog owners are almost four times more likely than their dog-less counterparts to meet daily physical activity guidelines. Dogs can even make you more attractive, the American Kennel Club pointed out, as numerous studies have shown that it’s easier to get phone numbers or appear happier and more approachable when you’re with a dog.
Image credits: Jana Shnipelson (not the actual photo)
Dogs, especially French bulldogs, seem to be the most popular among pet owners
The numerous benefits of owning a dog puts the latter on the top of the list of most popular pets; in the US, at least. According to data from 2022, nearly half—44.6%, to be exact—of households with companion animals were home to a dog. (Cats, birds, and horses lined up behind them, comprising roughly 26%, 2.5% and 0.2% of households respectively.)
Based on American Kennel Club’s data from the same year, French bulldog was the most popular dog breed, dethroning the Labrador retriever, which has reigned for more than three decades as the most popular one.
While both of said breeds—as well as a number of others—are lovable and, clearly, loved by many, mix-breed doggos are as worthy of love. That’s why many people turn to animal shelters, where purebreds are relatively scarce, rather than breeders when seeking to find an addition to the family. Statistics show that roughly 2 million dogs (and 2.1 million cats) are adopted from shelters each year.
Needless to say, both shelter dogs and those coming from a breeder can entail certain challenges, and, undoubtedly, responsibilities: in addition to walking and feeding the critter, there’s also medical bills and other less positive attributes of pet ownership. However, many people sharing a home with a dog—or any other pet, for that matter—would likely agree that the positives outweigh the negatives; and that walking the dog is not that big of a hassle, which is why the OP’s boyfriend was criticized by fellow netizens in the comments for refusing to do it.
Image credits: Ivan Babydov (not the actual photo)
Fellow netizens assured the owner she was not a jerk and criticized the boyfriend
