Dogs and their owners

Nearly every person with a pet develops a bond with this animal. But can it reach such a state that dogs and their owners start to look like each other more and more?     

Do dogs look like their owners or are owners beginning to look more and more like their dogs? It struck me when I was having a trip to the mailbox this afternoon and ran into three people who were taking their darling pet for a walk.

First I passed a neat elderly lady with white-grey hair that is half curled and hanging loose. Next to her walked a slender poodle looking ahead of her, just as bored, and also moving forward at the same snail’s pace. Secondly, I saw a broad man standing by the traffic lights, his arms covered with tattoos, shouting at his dog: “Chico! Sit! Stay! Good dog!” The Pitbull next to him, an equally aggressive look in his eyes, sat down obediently to satisfy his master.

Finally, on my way back I stumbled upon a girl whose hair was bleached a little bit too much and who wore a little bit too much make-up. On her high Prada heels she waggled in the direction of the shopping street. In her arms she was holding a small rat, or Chihuahua, looking around arrogantly. You could not blame the little animal for this either, as it probably wore more money’s worth of clothes than I did at that moment in my H&M outfit.

Once home, I wanted to learn if there was a theory that could explain the resemblance between humans and pets by means of the always handy Google. It turned out there is a survey giving an explanation: “If you are heavily built, you would, for instance, rather choose a robust dog, so that you get a lot of exercise. If you are slightly  built, you may rather choose a poodle, because you believe you don’t need extra exercise.” This survey, however, did not find a relationship between the personality of the dog owner and the choice for a specific breed. The comparison between dog & co only applied to the appearance.

 And here my doubts begin. Because Furia the Poodle, Chico the Pitbull and Tinkerbell the Chihuahua seemed to have taken over a little bit too much of the character of their owners. Or did the owners take over too many traits from their dogs? At this moment I decide that in the future I will take a cat into my house instead of a German Shepherd....

Sources: www.todio.nl