Serious about love? Then collar a man with a collie

IN THE world of online dating it isn’t always clear who is looking for a fling and who wants real romance.

But scientists have now revealed one easy way to tell if a chap may be hunting for love.

Men are more likely to include a picture or mention of a dog in their online dating profile if they want a serious relationship, research suggests.

They are also more likely to do this than women in either category, while men looking for short-term relationships may display pictures of fast cars, motorbikes or themselves bare-chested, the Canadian researchers said.

Some 40 per cent of men seeking a long-term partner displayed a dog on their dating profile. Experts say dogs may make men appear masculine and dominant while signalling that if they can look after a pet, they may be able to look after a child.

Senior study author Professor Maryanne Fisher, an evolutionary psychologist from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said: ‘Men pictured with dogs in their online dating profiles show they can look after a pet and keep it alive – the kind of investment which can help to keep a longterm relationship going too.

‘The evidence suggests they choose dogs instead of cats for these profiles because cats are seen as more feminine.’

The study, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science, looked at people of all ages with personal photographs on their dating profile.

These included 225 men seeking a long-term relationship, 225 women who wanted the same, and 225 men looking for a casual fling with no commitment.

The researchers could find only 46 women looking for a no-strings date so they did not include them in their main analysis.