Imagine hanging out with a vegan at a steakhouse restaurant. Picture yourself sitting in a church pew with an atheist. Envision yourself planning a wedding for someone who thinks marriage is a bad idea. Invite someone to a kids’ birthday party who is annoyed by children.
All four of these people could be fun to hang out with anywhere else, but these scenarios simply are not their favorite scene. That’s about how it feels for online dating users who join dating apps for human-to-human contact but are overwhelmed by the amount of people making their pets the priority.
You’ve seen them before while you scroll left and right. You may even be one of them. They’re the online dating users who use one of their free (or paid) images to show off their Goldendoodle or Shih Tzu doing something “cute.” They’re the ones who block half their faces so you can better see their Persian or Ragdoll cats. They think this is a great idea. They’re pet lovers who only want to date other pet lovers.
The problem with this tactic is simple: They’re on dating sites that simply do not require users to be pet lovers. When you get on Christian Mingle, it’s fair to assume other users are Christians. Ashley Madison users clearly have more open ideas about cheating. Veggie Date users are not going to have first-date locations at a nearby BBQ restaurant. Fat-shaming should be minimized on BBW Cupid. These users know exactly what they want. I respect it.
But somehow, pet lovers keep joining online dating sites where they’re unclear about whether most users even like animals. Take a casual scroll on Twitter, and you’ll see as many people complaining about pet profile images as you will those gushing over just hanging out with this person’s pet. For pet lovers like you to be successful at online dating apps, you need to talk to someone who wants to hang out with you and your pet—not one or the other. So why do you keep joining online dating apps where you’re unclear?
Sure, there’s the optional sign-up survey question about pets. Some users flat-out lie to avoid admitting they’re really just not into pets. What man wants to admit he doesn’t like man’s best friend? What woman wants to admit she winces around men who like cats? However, if pet lovers are a priority, why not actually join a site for pet lovers?
Why should you join FetchaDate, the online dating site where pet lovers meet?
Who wants to have a hit date with someone only to find out that they don’t really like dogs or cats after all? Your pet has been in your life for months or years, and this new beau is making you choose between the two. We’ve all seen how trying to “change someone” backfires.
Can you change a non-dog lover into a pet lover?
Sure, there are exceptions to the rule. Once upon a time, I was someone who was scared of dogs. My mother got a Lab/German Shepherd crossbreed puppy anyway, and she kept reminding me about my dishwashing duties at the same time she’d conveniently bring her new puppy into the kitchen. I wised up to her antics and started hopping on the kitchen counter to wash dishes sideways.
I wanted nothing to do with this dog at 7 years old. Years later, my parents talk about that crossbreed like it solely belonged to me all 13 years of his life. I loved that dog after multiple dishwashing dodges.
As an adult, I became a dog walker, dog boarder, dog sitter and currently own a Hound mix. But if not for my mother, I’d have probably never been around dogs. In my house, my mother needed me to tolerate the dog, never mind like him. My brother made me like his cat, and I couldn’t stand felines before he invited one into our home.
But in the dating world, people simply don’t have to like your pet. As a pet lover nowadays, all I can think is, “Who in their right mind would not want to date another pet lover?”
For pet lovers with this as a deal-breaker, save yourself the trouble of trying to make people enjoy your four-legged roommate. Everyone is just not an animal lover, and that’s OK. But you should start off with someone who already is. Go where the pet lovers go.
There are enough other obstacles to get through in the dating world. Join a pet lovers’ site where your WingPet being your main image is a perk instead of a con for other online dating users. Once you’ve got that down, then you can worry about church locations, attitudes on marriage, food preferences, and all the other dating conundrums. Make your pet the easy answer!
