From his posts, it sounds like pet owners in general. Those who don't like animals just need to look for others who feel the same, rather than thinking pet owners will change for them.

That is not what I got from his posts but I agree that its better to seek someone who is more compatible. I learned from experience that a fanatic pet owner will never love a person as much as they love their pet so not much future in dating someone like that.

What makes someone a fanatic pet owner?

As I stated one that will never love a person as much as they love their pet.

This seems like a prejudice to me. The world is full of people that are fanatical about all sorts of things that are happily married or are in commited relationships that work. I'm not complaining about how women care more about their children than they do about me and although I think that you could draw an analogy between something like being a workaholic, there's a difference between someone being devoted to their work or pets or children, or God for that matter and someone that neglects their partner because of those things. You had one or two bad experiences with pet owners and now you are saying that you would never date one again. It's almost like me saying that I had one or two bad experiences with women and never again. This OP is coming across like one of those confirmed batchelors and I can't tell if he's ever even had a girlfriend but from the way that he's talking, it does sound like he can't be bothered with women at all. He does, in fact, describe himself as a "lifelong fitness fanatic" and even admits that he thinks that it's unlikely that he'll find someone that's compatible with him.

You say that you do charity work and I've had bad experiences with people that worked for charities. I don't say that I would never date somebody that works for a charity though and I did recently actually. Yeah, she went on about that and I found it a bit irritating but she wasn't fanatical about it to the point that it was all that she talked about and I didn't consider it to be a bad date, even if the chemistry wasn't really there and there was no second date. My mother is a Christian and that is like the major focus of her life but she's still been able to sustain a happy marriage with my father, who isn't religious and sneers about that a bit, for over forty five years. My mum is devoted to her family as well and it's not a competition.

I think that it's fair enough to say that you don't get on with certain types of people but that's as much to do with you as it is about them and it doesn't make those people undatable. It just boils down to you not wanting to go there again. I dated an alcoholic once but I'm not saying that I'll only date teatotalers now. I live in a country where a lot of men are fanatical about football but many of them still manage to date women and marry them. I could go on but maybe you get my point? I just think that this talk of not wanting to date someone that doesn't make you his main priority borders on control freakery. I'm sorry but it does come across like jealousy.

I own a 110 lb yellow lab who I love dearly. However its very important to have proper training early. My dog will not jump on people, beg for food while I eat dinner, or lay on my furniture. My dog loves going for rides in my truck and on my days off I take him on my errands. If we go outside of the truck he is on a leash so I can control him. He's very friendly but I don't want him approaching a stranger who might not feel comfortable with him. Its all about training and respect for others. At home he is free to roam the house but if people come by I will make him sit next to me unless they offer to pet the dog and interact with him.I'm not choosing a pet over a woman but it would be important that someone likes dogs in order to be with me because I would never get rid of him, I don't feel I'm being fanatic about it I just love dogs.

Thank you Jack for illustrating reasoning and responsibility as a pet owner. When people think and act as you do there are few problems.

On the other hand:





Quite the contrary -- my best friend, who lives on my property two hundred feet away, is devoted to her dog, a big Staffordshire / German shepherd mix. She has professional experience working with dogs and has put in the time and effort to teach the dog how to behave and to eagerly follow commands. To her I said, "Your dog is welcome in my home any time." It is a pleasure to see the two of them together. They are inseparable but if she tells him to lie down, for instance, he does so until given a release command.

Also, I have been a dog owner in the past and occasionally toy with the idea of having a dog again --�� but do not want the limitations associated with pet ownership --�� and don't relish the idea of again putting in the time and effort to train a dog to be well behaved (to about the same level as my friend's).

My "beef" is against irresponsible, excuse-making pet owners who allow their animals to annoy or disturb people. And, to making "love animals" (and children and gods) a precondition for FRIENDSHIP. It may be understandable (and wise) that someone devoted to their pets would not choose to live with someone who disliked the animals. Is cohabitation / coupledom / mating THE objective in friendship or "seeing someone?" Will animals be going along on "dates?"

If my friend and I were romantically involved or cohabiting (which we are not by mutual agreement and by virtue of a great age difference), she would be sensible enough to accept that my affection would be upon her, not the dog --�� and to not expect me to be a "dog lover" because she is and she has a dog. "Get along" would probably suffice.

I suppose that some people are like that, but I would hope they are in the minority of most dog owners.
I know its for sure not the case with me. I love my dogs and I love people too. I just don't want to be romantically involved with a man that does not like them. None of us would get along well then.

I can see that you lot must think that I'm some sort of nutter because I spoil my dog a bit and because I've said that I will let her aproach strangers and that I haven't tried to train her out of jumping on people. When I got my previous dog, he tried to climb onto the bed and couch and I didn't want him doing that and I got him out of that habit. He was a bigger dog though. My ex girlfriend has a King Charles spaniel and that's a lapdog and she does let it jump onto the bed and couch. I don't really see anything wrong with that and I don't think that it's really any different from me letting my dog do it. I do also encourage her to beg for food I suppose because I usually eat my dinner in front of the TV and I will chuck things like pizza crusts to her and I sort of trained her to put her paw on my knee when she wants a bit of what I'm eating. This dog has been in some of the best restaurants in Edinburgh with me though and she always behaves herself when I'm sitting at a dinner table and she will just sit nicely or lie down. I take her into the local shop all the time and she will try to steal food and has done but I keep her on a tight leash when I go in there and the few times that she's managed to grab something I have apologised and offered to pay for it.

Everyone that I know likes my dog and none of them have said anything to me about how I have some sort of obligation to other people to train her out of the habits that she has. The only reason that I considered taking her to obedience classes was because sometimes she pulls a bit when she's on the leash when I'm out walking with her. I don't really see that as a big deal though and when it comes to it, I'm stronger than she is. It's a small number of people that don't really like dogs or that think that they should be trained to behave perfectly that have any problem with it. It is moralising. I could say that I don't like all sorts of things; drunks singing in the street; children running about and getting in my way; cyclists on paths and pavements; someone playing the bagpipes; farting; beggars and scroungers and basically anything that I might find annoying or offensive. I don't like people moralising at me and trying to tell me what to do. My dog isn't doing any harm and most people like her. If you go down the road of saying that things that some people are shocked, offended or even traumatised by, shouldn't be allowed, then you are on a very slippery slope there and I am going to have to invoke Godwin's law and say that I have won this thread.

Won a thread????

What a warped perspective or objective.

Thank you for clarifying your position.

Do you also dislike it when they say, "Must have good sense of humour?"

Heck no.

I tell them that it should be easy to find a comedian since there are so many out of work that they hang around forums trying to be funny.

It's more just something that I do when I'm inbetween girlfriends to keep my spirits up really.

But seriously though mate; it was an interesting topic and that's why I kept posting. I always find it interesting to chat with Americans on the internet and hear their views and learn about their culture. The bit about cats on leashes was particularly good. To tell you the truth; we're a bit behind the times here and we only just got the backwards baseball caps.

That doesn't tell me much. You could be assuming that because they didn't change the way they were with their pets when they were with you. Can you give a bit more detail about what makes a person a fanatic pet owner?

Do you think it's disrespecting to others if pets get on the furniture in their owner's home?

Would you have made a thread like this about someone who had weight, height or physical requirements for friendship and dating?

I guess a good example is an article I read about a husband who had his wife get rid of her dog as she treated the dog better than her own child . I don't know how a parent would treat their dog better than child but I guess he had enough and the dog was removed from said home.

I just put in a post about that. A mom that put her pet before her child.

That still doesn't tell me much. How was she putting the dog before the child?

Would you consider a pet owner a fanatic if they refused to get rid of a pet when their significant other asked them to do so?