Must love dogs
Canine ‘dads’ seen as more masculine, responsible, rich
Guys, are you looking for love during these uncertain times? Get a dog. Make it a French bulldog, a puppy for best results.
So says New York-based dating and relationship expert Maureen Tara Nelson, who says being a “dog dad” brings on major interest, making a single man more attractive to potential dates.
And yes, the French bulldog, with its wide eyes and smushy face, absolutely rules, having been voted as the cutest dogs for a man to have among city-dwellers. Mind you, if you’re more of a suburban kind of guy, get a larger dog, like golden retrievers and Labradors — they are babe magnets.
Why dogs? They make a man look more masculine, according to Tara Nelson, a relationship coach and professional matchmaker quoting a recent study, in which 60 per cent of women thought a canine friend showed that, along with the masculinity, it showed a man as caring and more responsible.
And richer, or perceived to make more money.
Mind you, not all dogs attract the same attention — apparently, Shih Tzus or wee pomeranians are a buzzkill in the dating department.
Why dogs? They tend to bring out the nurturing element in people, not to mention the sex appeal. Recent Match.com data shows dogs are overwhelmingly the sexiest pet a guy can own. Plus when you see a guy walking a dog, you know there’s a commitment element there — responsible pet owner means a responsible person.
A recent study in dogtime. com reveals scientific data connecting the correlation between the attraction levels brought on by people who are pet lovers. The date shows a research team led by University of Nevada-Las Vegas anthropologist Peter
Grey found that “35 per cent of women and 36 per cent of men were more attracted to someone because they owned a pet, 64 per cent of women and half of men were more attracted to someone who owned a rescue animal, and 75 per cent of women and 54 per cent of men said they would not date someone who did not like pets.”
That’s the key. Ask yourself — would you seriously want to date someone who would verbalize hating beloved animals?
According to dogtime.com, the five elements that make pet lovers so attractive on the dating scene are: understanding commitment, having empathy, being physically fit (ever walk a 130pound dog?), taking care of others, and being more sociable — all attributes attractive to the relationship sex, be it man or woman.
Having a pet as a date magnet is not new — we’ve been hearing about this year for years, books have been written, romantic films made. Psychology Today quotes an experiment dating back to the mid-2000s in which two French social psychologists had a handsome young Frenchman named Antoine randomly approach a group of women to ask for their phone numbers for a date. For the experiment, Antoine had a dog with him for half the experiment. The results? When the young man was without a dog, only 10 per cent of women gave him their number, compared to 30 per cent when he had the dog.
It seems that science has always found men are a hot commodity when accompanied by a dog, and that dogs are more likely to affect a person’s perception of a potential partner — even more than cats, although there’s something quite endearing about a man who loves his four-legged furballs.
So next time you’re looking for potential date material, visit your local dog walking park, animal shelter and pet food store.
You never know who’s at the other end of a leash.