You’ve spent years coveting thy neighbor’s pooch. Your dream in life is to have a brood of wiggly fur nuggets greet you each time you walk in the front door — and after some serious soul searching, you’ve decided you’re ready to take the plunge! And hey, you’re not selfish! You’d settle for just one pup to hand feed biscuits and snuggle up to while watching Homeward Bound on loop. You’re financially stable. Your building even allows dogs. There’s only one hold up: the (“human”) love of your life isn’t sure he’s even a dog person.
Oof. I’ve been there. In fact, I was just there. My live-in significant other was like a wet blanket when it came to pups. Each time I’d bring up the idea of adopting a dog, he’d counter with his list of reservations. Until last month. In a full on, game-changing move, my boyfriend caved and we finally rescued our own personal lil dingus, a 2 year-old German Shepherd/Collie mix name Gilda Radner, whom he has now become OBSESSED with.
Moral of the story? Don’t give up hope. Here are some proven-to-work tips to help convince your significant other he has been a dog person all along!
1. Cozy up to your friends who already have a pup and offer to dog-sit… FOR FREE. Think of it as puppy-parenthood trial run: all the glamour of owning a dog, minus those pesky vet bills.
2. Troll Petfinder and BarkBuddy on the regular and be sure to send your boyf pics of any dog wearing a bandana. Literally no one can resist a dog in a bandana.
3. Use your Instagram account to follow mainly, if not ONLY, accounts that post cute dog pics and vids. Then be sure your Sig-O is around when you’re playing insta-feed catch up. Crank the volume on your phone while doing this — it’d be a nightmare if you missed the opportunity to melt a heart via a video of a husky declaring “AY RUV ROOO!”
4. Tell him that if you adopt a dog it’ll be mainly YOUR responsibility. After all, you already know that YOU are a dog person. Once your boyf sees the amazingness of the pup he will be begging you to put him in the game. (Side note: you will probably be the one on poop-scoop-duty for the first month or so, but TBH that’s a small price to pay in exchange for the never-ending euphoria of pooch motherhood.)
5. Any time you’re around a dog of any kind let him be the master of the treats.
6. Make sure that every time he meets a dog you “dog-ument” it and post it on insta. The sheer like-ability factor will make him see that having a dog around means power, fame, and acceptance.
7. Give him an ultimatum, a dog or a baby… Just kidding, you don’t want a baby right now, you just want that sweet, sweet hound.
Good luck. You can do this! Seriously, if you don’t have a dog of your very own by St. Patricks day then you’re doing it wrong. Dog speed.
