Excellent article from New York Magazine, The Rise of Dog Identity Politics
And the dog can even tell you whether or not you’re a good person. A 1999 study found that people who strongly dislike dogs score significantly higher on the measure of anal character and lower on the empathy scale of the California Psychological Inventory, indicating “that people who liked dogs have less difficulty relating to people.”
Thursday, May 27, 2010
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5 comments:
That was a really good read, thanks. I especially like the segments about PETA, the likely result of the most responsible people S/N their dogs, and the last segment on mortality and vet medicine.
I love it when a study proves what I have always known instinctively.
Enjoyed that very much, Fred. The writer covered quite an interesting gamut.
"With a hand-bred wolf, there are issues getting their attention." Heh.
"And the dog can even tell you whether or not you’re a good person. "
Yes, definitely. I wish I'd listened to my dog when she didn't like a couple of people I dated. She was right.
I have to say that while I enjoyed the beginning of the article, by the end I was feeling a couple of negative responses: First, I am not sure that the author displays the sort of empathy that his early argument would suggest he has attained through dog ownership. Secondly, I felt that through much of the article there was an underlying sense that there is something *wrong* with loving dogs. It very much reminded me of one of your other posts about the accusations people send to dog rescuers. Like we should be doing something better with our time and resources. Why on earth would it be wrong for someone to spend $20,000 trying to save their dog, if the chances were good that it could truly be saved and returned to a healthy, pleasant life? Uh-oh. This might have turned into a rant.
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