Have you ever met someone who appears to be the best dog person in the world but there’s just a little something off about their love for our four legged friends? Like every kind of person, Doggers attract pretenders. It’s a bit puzzling to try and figure out why someone would go to the trouble of pretending to love something they don’t but it happens. The confusing part to me is that they bring dogs into their lives and sometimes they work with dogs but at the root of who they are they just don’t care all that much about them. Doggers have a weakness for dogs. They unintentionally smile when they see dogs walking with their people and sometimes make comments like ‘Good boy’ or ‘How pretty!’ or my all time favorite ‘He’s far to pretty to have to sit and behave on such a beautiful day’, which was said to me by a lovely older man when I was having a rescue dog practice sitting in the Boston Common. You can tell a Non-Dogger in Disguise when you see their lack of reaction to the dogs around them or *eek* to their own dogs. It’s not really that big a deal except for the lack of honesty or self knowledge. Why pretend to be something you are not when it takes more energy than just being who you are? I guess that some do it to impress their spouse, partner or significant other and that troubles me less than the ones who do it for no reason at all. If I weren’t a Dogger and wanted to pretend to like an animal I think I’d pick cats because they’re less demanding and most often easier to have in your life. I don’t know, maybe they do it because dogs generate social interaction and when you work with them you can have a certain amount of power in your life…you can have power over the dogs and power over their owners. I have met some shelter managers who loathed dogs and who tortured rescuers with the threat of euthanizing the shelter dogs but they weren’t pretending to love any animal or person.
This is a tricky one so look forward to me continuing to attempt to sort it out as time goes forward. Meanwhile, go hug your furry best friend!!
