I Hate Dogs
When I was younger, I actually kinda hated dogs. I know that that might be fairly opposite to the zoosexual experience most people have, but up until I was in my teenage years I just assumed that dogs kinda sucked. This came from the experience of knowing a dog that kinda sucked. He was a super annoying, extremely loud, very egotistical jerk who always walked around like he was the king of everything. Taking him on walks was a nightmare, especially since he was fairly large and I was fairly small. If there was anything he wanted to go check out, I did not get an opinion on the matter.
It's not like he was the only dog I ever saw. Sometimes I'd see dogs at friends houses or while walking down the street, and that was fine. But this dog was the one that I knew. That I spent any amount of time with. And I figured that being an egotistical jerk was just how all dogs were.
The second dog I got to spend any real time with was just plain fine. They were much more relaxed. But to the extent that you could forget they were there. They were a part of the furniture as much as they were a living being. You could give them pets and they would maybe look up at you a bit, but that was as much as you were getting out of them without some kind of food. Even when you went out for walks with them, they were the kind of dog that liked to get to the end of the driveway, have a sniff, and then head back inside. It's not like I hated this dog by any means. I was just apathetic.
It was the third dog that I got to know that actually opened my eyes. This dog was friendly, but not overbearing. They were adventurous, and going out with them felt like you were going on that adventure together, rather than just being pulled along for the ride. They were always down to play, but also were happy to give you space if you needed it. They loved a good belly rub, and would happily give you some face licks in return. I met this dog expecting to feel the same way about them as I did other dogs. I ended up feeling a whole lot more. Looking back, I think it's fair to say that I loved that dog, even if I didn't really understand what that meant at the time. I actually wanted to spend time with them. Their existence made the world a better place for me.
All that to say, I don't like every dog. In fact, there are some dogs that I think downright suck. And I don't mean that in an abstract way, where there are certain breeds I think are kinda lame. I mean individual dogs that I just do not like. There's a local zoo who I see fairly often, either he'll come visit us, or we'll go visit him. He's fantastic to hang out with, a general joy to be around. I do not like his partner. He reminds me a lot of my the first dog I mentioned. Sometimes if my friend is going away, we'll dog sit for him, and it's happened enough that me and his partner have come to a general understanding with each other. His partner will stay cranky the whole time, we'll feed him and take him for walks, but just generally it's more a situation of necessity rather than enjoyment. Thankfully, he gets along great with my partner, so it's not like he's utterly deprived of joy the whole time, but any time that my partner isn't in the room we both just sit as far away from each other as possible and don't engage at all.
And, maybe controversial opinion here, I think it's perfectly okay to not like every dog. Here's the way that I look at it. Part of being a zoo is understanding that animals are more than just a monolith of whatever breed or species they belong to. Animals are individuals with their own personalities and traits, things they like and dislike. They're people. Just like us. And sometimes when you meet someone, you just don't end up clicking with them. I'm sure you've had the experience before. You meet a coworker, or end up talking with someone at a party or something, and you just immediately realize that you're not on the same wavelength at all. It's not necessarily anything that they did, nor is it anything you said. You just aren't compatible. If we really believe that animals are unique people just like humans, it stands to reason that the same thing could apply to our interactions with them too.
Ready for the pivot of a lifetime? I actually think that not liking dogs sometimes is extremely validating towards our attraction being a sexuality more than it is a kink. Think of it this way. Everyone has a type, right? A kind of person that they really like? You've probably heard the concept before. And while it's somewhat objectifying, at the same time it comes down to people's preferences. They like a blonde, they really like Asians, they like tall guys, etcetc. None of those are things I would consider sexualities. Instead, they're things that you can be into regardless of the person themselves. It's excluding the person for the attribute. But, just because someone's into tall blondes, that doesn't necessarily mean that every time they meet a tall blonde they're going to be compatible with each other.
To me at least, it's the same thing for dogs. I definitely have a type. I like huge, fluffy canines. Bernese, Pyrenese, that kind of thing. That first dog that I didn't like though. They were a Leonberger. Nowadays, that's a breed that I would put in my top three for sure. But, that's based off of the physical traits that I'm looking at. Just because I might like those physical traits, that doesn't mean that that's all that matters to me when I'm looking for a partner. There's so much more that goes into it. Attraction is one thing, but when I talk about zoosexuality, I'm talking about it as a sexuality. In the same way that I think Ryan Reynolds is pretty hot, but if I talked to him in person and thought he was a dick that's probably as far as we'd get, if I meet a dog that's my dream as far as appearance, I might not necessarily fall in love with them, or even be attracted to them if we don't connect on another level.
Every dog is unique. Every horse is unique. Every cat is unique. Most animals are unique. And that means that some are going to have personalities that you mesh with, and others won't. But that just goes to show that when it comes to the way we feel about animals, there's more that goes into it than just looks. The third dog I mentioned, the one that showed me that I really did have a thing for animals. They were a breed that I would never say is one that I especially like. But we had a connection, and that's what mattered.
So feel free to call that dog an asshole, maybe he is. But feel better about it knowing that it just goes to show that animals are all different in their own special ways.
Article written by Tarro (February 2025)
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