There is no doubt that a relationship between you and your dog can be beautiful and can last longer if the match is right. The main question is, how can one determine the dog they are getting is the perfect match for them? According to research, it can be concluded that dogs react differently to men and women and it can largely depend on the dog’s gender. The main challenge is understanding the interactions of this fluffy companion with humans.
A long history of humans and dogs
Both dogs and humans have been co-evolving for ages. Humans have some responsibilities towards dogs that they should fulfill, especially how we express gender via animals. The sad part is that often time, things happen in a negative way, for example when women are referred to as bitches or men are called pigs. These animal metaphors have nothing to do with animals themselves. This shows how we humans categorize animals to categorize humans. Challenging and stopping these bizarre gender stereotypes can be extremely beneficial for animals’ lives as well. In the year 2006, a landmark analysis revealed that dog owners use dogs as props to showcase their gender identities.
Participants of this gender and dog ownership analysis considered male dogs as more aggressive while female dogs were considered moodier. In short, they used gender stereotypes to select dogs and to predict their personality and overall behavior. These baseless and false predictions about dog behavior can lead to a person giving up on their dog,hence sending it to a shelter. When most dogs fail a behavioral assessment due to flawed predictions, they end up being killed.
Gender stereotypes
Based on the points raised above, it can be concluded that the relationship between a dog and a human is not determined just on the basis of human interaction but also how our genders interact. While everyone knows quite well that gender stereotypes can be extremely damaging for humans, dog owners might just not realize that their baggage of gender stereotypes can also affect the innocent animal they live with. More research is still required to make sure what role gender plays in making a great match between your canine pal and you. A great match here means that there are fewer chances that the dog you are getting will end up in a shelter or will be treated badly. The main message humans can take away is that to have a successful bond with a dog, it is important we humans reflect seriously and rationally on gender stereotypes. Moreover, dogs don’t just need any other human, they need a complementary human.