No puppy love : exploring the relationship between humans and pet dogs

Abstract

This exploratory research investigates the relationship between humans and dogs focusing specifically on the family and the emotional aspect. The relationship between owners and their pet dogs is drawn into the sociological imagination. For data collection, a non-random purposive sample is used, and qualitative interviews are carried out and coded using content analysis. Findings show that pet dogs are individualized and integrated into the dynamics of family life as they are treated as family members by being incorporated into the household as well as into family practices. Moreover, pet dogs also emerge as active agents influencing family life; thus, I argue that in such a context, dogs acquire a ‘quasi-kin’ place in a multispecies family. This ‘quasi-kin’ status is reflected in the range of emotions at play in the experience of dog ownership; dog owners develop strong, meaningful attachments to their pet dogs, comparable to the human emotion of love. Similarly, dog owners experience intense sadness and disbelief upon losing a beloved pet dog, also comparable to the human emotion of grief. In addition, data indicates the therapeutic aspect to dog ownership; participants experience a sense of comfort and stress relief through the presence of their dog, and this emerges as one of the most valued outcomes of dog ownership. A key idea present in every finding in this research is that pet dogs are valued for the very fact that they are not human; they provide people with something that is not present in human relationships.