Showing an adorable puppy in your online dating profile is an easy way to make yourself seem likable and kind. Unfortunately, many of the people who use this method seem to think there’s no reason to put up with a smelly, dirty mutt when they can just lie about it.
Dogfishing is a thing
Dogfishing is the practice of putting a pooch in your Tinder or OkCupid profile as bait. In its most egregious form, the person doesn’t own the dog, so including it in their profile picture is essentially a lie.
Lying on dating profiles is never a good idea, especially when it’s one so easily found out. Suppose it works, and the dogfisher and their date meet for the first time. A typical ice-breaker to expect is, “So, tell me about your adorable dog.” The person has a choice of admitting they lied or coming out with more lies to cover up the first one. Good relationships aren’t built that way.
People like pets and pet owners
It’s understandable why people want to include cute animals in their dating profiles. A study called “The Roles of Pet Dogs and Cats in Human Courtship and Dating” found that 35% percent of women and about a quarter of men had been more attracted to someone because they had pet. And the figure goes up to 64% of women and roughly half of men if that pet was a rescue.
Men seem more aware of the Rover’s power as datebait. This survey had 22% of men admitting they had used a pet in this way, versus just 6% of women. And the percentage is over 30% for men between 30 years and 40 years old.
But it has to be a dog. When 600 women were asked what is the sexiest pet a man can own, about 500 of them chose a dog. Cats were a distant second, and don’t bother to talk on eHarmony about your rabbit.
Via SFGate
