Dating : “I Would Never Date Someone Who…”

One of my partner “requirements” was related to animals. Any potential partner of mine had to be an animal lover.

I love dogs more than I like most people. And I couldn’t imagine ever being with someone who wasn’t as exaggerated of a dog lover as I was. No matter what kind of day I’m having, just one interaction with a cute pup and everything is golden.

It’s why I ended up working in an animal shelter and then an animal hospital after. Animals make me a happier person. (When I see a cute baby on the street, I keep on walking. No offense to the cute babies. They’re just not my type.)

The animal-lover thing was just common sense for me; I wouldn’t date someone who wasn’t crazy about dogs.

And then I met my partner.

When my partner and I began seriously dating, we spent the majority of our time at his house. I thought it was only a matter of time before he asked to hang out at my place with my rescue dog. It was important to me for them to like each other if things were serious between us.

I mentioned my concern to my partner and I realized from his response, he wasn’t a dog person.

Wait, what?

At first, it was a shock. I judged his character instantly and used every meme I’ve seen online about people who don’t like dogs and how wrong they are, to back up my opinion in my head. I thought it was strange. I’d never been in a relationship with a guy who wasn’t absolutely as enthusiastic about dogs as I was.

It took some time for me to realize my “partner requirement” was silly, childish, and I was creating a problem in our happy relationship that didn’t need to exist.

My partner doesn’t hate dogs. He’s simply a busy person who doesn’t have the time to care for an animal. He’s content living his life without having a pet. But as a dog lover, sometimes I deemed those without pets as confusing.

“Pets are the greatest thing on this planet, and anyone who doesn’t see that is missing out,” I’d say. Well, no. Pets are the greatest thing on this planet, in my opinion.

Just because someone isn’t an animal lover doesn’t make them a bad person, no matter what memes on Twitter may tell you. Not loving cats or dogs as much as I do doesn’t make a wonderful person unworthy to be with me.