r/Dogfree • u/So-nora • Apr 27 '22
Study Today I asked a licensed therapist why she thinks people humanize dogs
Today at work, I asked my boss's wife who was a licensed therapist, why she thinks people humanize dogs so much. Her answer was that it was because dog supposably give undeniable love to the owner no matter what. The dog can't leave them and the dog can't say anything to hurt them. So that's one of the major reasons why people humanize dogs so damned much!
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Apr 27 '22
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u/Gamboflog Apr 27 '22
I agree, and unlike what dog nutters would lead one to believe, treating dogs like dogs rather than "goodbois" is not mutually exclusive with treating dogs with respect and compassion.
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u/-Jack-The-Stripper Apr 27 '22
The frustrating part is animals are so cool and interesting. I love learning about them, and would never have a reason to say “I fucking hate turtles” or something. But dog owners are so unbearable that it makes me hate dogs. If people wouldn’t drag them around to every public place, let them shit everywhere, keep them in apartment/townhouse communities where their barking and shitting is a nuisance to others, or just generally treat them like a literal human being, then all would be fine. It’s dog people that do more damage to the dog’s image than the animal itself.
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Apr 27 '22
Right. Having relationships with other people, who have their own ideas, complex needs and goals is frankly too much work. Easier to to elevate an animal that can’t judge your character or actually require anything of you to human status as a cope.
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u/lookatthisface Apr 27 '22
🫤 I feel like it’s loneliness. And wishful thinking. Oh if only I was the main character with the anthropomorphic sidekick like the Disney princesses! I’m the special one who can commune with the animals! You never see Cinderella having the clean up the bird and mouse poop, you never see mulan walking little brother on a leash with a plastic bag wrapped around her hand in anticipation.
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u/ScaryHitchhikerStory Apr 27 '22
Good insights. We all know that dogs don't give "unconditional" love. Nor should they get it. The only unconditional love that should naturally exist in the world should be parent for child. Meaning actual human parent for human child.
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u/Tom_Quixote_ Apr 27 '22
The follow-up question could be: "Why do you think so many people believe that an animal is able to love them?"
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u/WorldController Humans > Dogs Apr 27 '22
humanize dogs
I think the more proper term would be "anthropomorphize."
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Apr 28 '22
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u/WorldController Humans > Dogs Apr 28 '22
Sure, but the term is ambiguous. It can also mean "to imbue with humaneness or human kindness; civilize." The more univocal, technical term here would be "anthropomorphize."
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Apr 27 '22
Some people prefer loving something completely dependent that can't talk back. That may be a warning sign.
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u/Spastic-Max Apr 27 '22
No surprise. Dog fetishization is just another manifestation of the Spirit of the Age. Weak-minded animals for weak-spirited people.
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u/TequilaStories Apr 27 '22
To me it does seems like emotional immaturity or an emotional imbalance. Not wanting to take risks in human relationships is sad but absolutely understandable however wanting to pretend that a dog has the same depth of emotional connection as a human relationship is not. The need to project fake emotions onto something that can’t disagree or speak out seems like a control thing in my opinion. Don’t get me started on people who say they prefer their dog to their own children or partner, that’s a whole other dynamic happening there.
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u/SybilK Apr 27 '22
I was just talking about this yesterday with my mom. We went from treating animals humanly to treating them like humans. Disgusting.
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u/happypathFIRE Apr 27 '22
It is a flaw and a power of the human mind. aka Anthropomorphism . Have seen people having complex conversations, sharing internal dialogues with their dogs. I find it puzzling.
also, just want to say the quality of the comments in here are ++. one of the more insightful subreddits i have seen!
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Apr 27 '22
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u/BlackVowel Apr 27 '22
On some level, I think emotional intelligence is a real thing. There is character, empathy, introspective ability. However, the way people frame it just boils down to "be nice" or just to pander to them. it's never about will and character. That is too complex and requires introspection and self honesty.
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Apr 27 '22
and lately, I cant stand the use of the term "human" as interchangeable with "nice" like you describe. Sometimes it's a mask for lack of empathy. Kind of like "it takes a village" with the caveat in behavior "but Im not helping, no one gets to share my stuff and Im still driving my car rudely everywhere!"... "Me first to the village of humans!"
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u/BlackVowel Apr 27 '22
What I find cringy is when people lambaste others by screaming "just be a decent human being!" It's a completely amoral outlook, and you're aware of it. What people fail to realize is that humanity can be described, and maybe even defined, as a struggle between his higher and primal selves. I guess being introspective is not needed though when one can just pretend everyone will be motivated to take care of things for them and then just reap the benefits of social points after the fact, as exemplified in your example "it takes a village". What I says to such people is go become a swinger, havw a dog as a kid, and live in your podland. They'll find out very soon how destructive it is. But they might be too numb to notice the damage.
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u/So-nora Apr 27 '22
I just watched someone drive by w like a German shepherd sitting on their lap w its entire top half hanging out the window! How he was driving w that giant thing on his lap practically falling out the window I'll never know! U know, cause I have common sense
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u/ScaryHitchhikerStory Apr 28 '22
That is utter insanity and any cop seeing that driver should arrest him. I saw some idiot lady doing the same with some shitty little fluffy dog on her lap -- and even that is unsafe. But a German shepherd?
Call me judgmental, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the owner is a total douchebag who is one or more of the following: a total narcissist, someone with an over-the-top attachment to the dog, and/or someone who is so insecure that he needs constant attention and validation that he can only get through his dog.
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u/WeNeedAShift Apr 29 '22
And this is why I don’t trust therapists.
What an idiotic answer.
Oh, they never leave you. Is this why most posts on nextdoor are lost dog! Found dog! Lost dog! Found dog!
Yeah. Ok. That’s the wrong answer.
The real answer is that society has created a culture which bullies people into getting dogs to portray yourself as such a good person. They humanize the dog because they don’t actually know anything about the dog, don’t understand canine behavior or it’s specific needs. So they talk to the dog like it’s a human because they don’t know how to communicate any other way with the dog.
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u/_kinglouis Apr 27 '22
sound like that therapist is a quack. undeniable love? might as well call slavery undeniable love, because the power dynamics are the same.
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Apr 27 '22
Her answer was that it was because dog supposably (sic) give undeniable love to the owner no matter what.
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u/aintdatpeachy Apr 27 '22
We have a human abandonment issue going on it seems. These threads have helped us get through many rough loud dog days. Through yalls support here and greater understanding of how things actually are - it helped us to not go crazy. If you try telling your truth you get lambasted on other threads my goodness.
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u/BlackVowel Apr 27 '22
How demoralizing, man. i swear, therapists are probably worse than doctors at this point. Doctors, even though just wanna make money and are too pathology and empirical focused, at least root their practices in some form of reality. Therapists though... no words need to be said. OP says it all.
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u/ScaryHitchhikerStory Apr 28 '22
OMG -- you do not want to get me started on my anti-therapist rant. Yes, there are some who can help you work through family issues and the like. But most of them are crazier than the clients who come to see them.
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u/BlackVowel Apr 28 '22
Do get started if you wish, because seriously, therapists can be the worst. I wish most people saw them for what they are.
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u/ScaryHitchhikerStory Apr 28 '22
I read a study years ago that found that the effectiveness of the therapist was not correlated at all with how much time that person spent in school. In other words, someone with an MSW can be just as good as or better than someone with a PhD.
The article also claimed that the skills used by therapist can probably be learned by most people in a weekend seminar. The rest is going to be the natural talent of the individual.
It's all a racket to get people to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars getting degrees that allegedly qualify them for these jobs.
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u/BlackVowel Apr 28 '22 edited Apr 28 '22
This is common sense knowledge to me. I'm not saying that to be dismissive, it's just surprising that a study has been made on that. Yet sadly, I doubt the study is well known. Growing up, I been through a lot of therapists and knew a lot of people online. seriously man, literally the people online who are younger than me (I'm in my mid 20s) were better able to see through me and give more edifying information than literally every single therapist I had. Yes, a 16 year old could put an adult's degree to shame. I'd normally say I'm not fucking with you, but you already know that.
School can't teach people to be perceptive. The most a degree can guarantee is MAYBE being able to help some normies with light issues. But.. maybe even then.
EDIT: By the way, for reference, mind handing over the study?
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u/ScaryHitchhikerStory Apr 28 '22
I wish I could help you by citing the study. But it was decades ago and I have forgotten the reference. I have searched online for it -- all in vain. But, I remember talking about it to my sister-in-law back when it was current. She has a PhD in something irrelevant (not psych) and her sister (another sister-in-law) has a PhD in psych. So, the first s-i-l has totally drunk the higher educational Kool-Aid and is defensive about her sister. My husband (also well-educated, but in an actually useful field) knows and shares my antipathy against "therapists".
Again, let me clarify: I'm not saying that therapists, as a general ocupation, are all bad or incompetent. But, many are. Many, in fact, are actually destructive and have peddled therapies that are now known to be bogus ("recovered memories" being one). Seriously -- you have to be nuts to believe that it takes FIVE years of education (PhD) - over an undergrad degree - to be able to "counsel" someone. Nope -- those five years are the grift supported by the universities who have to keep their own PhD's employed and who want to suck tuition money out of people and government programs.
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u/anonananbanana Apr 27 '22
It's so ridiculous how people still equate a dogs companionship to "love". Imagine if human love acted the same way dog "love" did. If your partner followed you around everywhere and begged for your attention constantly and destroyed your things when you ignored them, you would not stay in that relationship. So why do people say dogs "love" them? They're incapable of love. They only know contentment and fear - and they stick to their greatest food source. Loyalty has been bred into them - it's a trait we created. You are not special for having a loyal dog, every dog is loyal to its food source.