Dogs make fabulous companions and there are many benefits to dog ownership, from better physical fitness to increased social interaction. Plus, the media presents dogs as fun, lovable, and low maintenance — maybe with the exception of dogs in horror movies.
Getting a dog may seem like the perfect way to enhance your life. But there can be potential drawbacks to having a dog, too. Before bringing a dog into your life, it’s important to know all the pros and cons of dog ownership. It’s important to make a fully informed decision that will be best for you and for the dog.
The Whole Picture of Dog Ownership
Having a dog in your home can be a wonderful experience, but it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. There are financial costs, time commitments, and even emotional burdens to consider. For example, owning a dog with behavioral issues, like reactivity or aggression, can be stressful and lead to feelings like shame and anxiety. Even a new puppy can cause frustration and exhaustion, a condition commonly known as the “puppy blues.”
People don’t often talk about these negative sides to dog ownership. But, you can’t be prepared to be a responsible dog owner if you don’t know the whole story before committing to a life with a pet. To help prospective owners make more conscientious decisions, a team of scientists including Laura Gillet, a psychologist and PhD student in the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, decided to look at which parts of dog ownership are considered the most beneficial and which parts are most costly.
The researchers presented 246 dog owners with a list of 33 statements related to pet dogs. They asked the owners to rate the statements on a scale from big advantage (+3) to big disadvantage (-3). The statements included phrases like “Having a dog can help people to learn responsibility,” “Dogs need their owners to take care of them,” and “Dogs need to be trained and educated.”
The Pros Often Outweigh the Cons
Dog owners rated positive statements (those given a rating above zero) much higher than negative statements (those rated below zero). On average, positive statements rated 2.06 on the scale whereas the negative statements only rated -0.66. In other words, dog owners rated the pros quite high on the scale, while most cons were barely negative at all.
The five benefits of dog ownership that the participants rated the most positive were the following:
- Dogs can brighten one’s life (rated on average 2.78 on the scale)
- Having a dog can encourage people to be more physically active (2.70)
- Dogs can help their owner(s) get through difficult situations in life (2.59)
- Dogs can be loyal and can provide unconditional love towards their owner(s) (2.58)
- People can share fun moments of play and laughter with their dog (2.55)
Based on these results, Gillet says for the majority of dog owners, dog ownership likely provides more pros than cons. “This doesn’t mean that they never experience any issues with their dogs. But overall, having a dog brings more benefits than costs.”
So, What Are the Cons of Dog Ownership?
Conversely, the five greatest disadvantages of dog ownership as perceived by the study participants include the following:
- Dogs usually have a shorter lifespan than their owner(s) (rated on average -1.67 on the scale)
- Having a dog can make it difficult to find an appropriate place to live (-0.70)
- When on vacation, a solution to care for the dog may be needed (-0.66)
- Dogs’ disobedience can generate feelings of frustration, stress, and anger (-0.64)
- Dogs can cause harm to other animals (-0.63)
Despite the low rankings, considering millions of dogs enter shelters each year, there are obviously people for whom these disadvantages are impossible to manage. Gillet found that the average score of negatively rated statements was not as negative as she anticipated. She presumes this is due to surveying a specific group of dog owners who were interested in canine science and likely invested in dog training and care.
Most of those surveyed owned adult dogs that they acquired as puppies. “Future directions of our work could be to focus on those people who relinquished their dogs or decided not to have another one after a bad experience. We also acknowledge that experiencing difficulties with a companion dog can be hard to admit, even in an online, anonymous questionnaire.”
Different Benefits of Having a Dog
Based on the study results, the researchers identified three components of dog ownership. The first is the emotional, physical, and social benefits of having a dog. The second is the negative emotions and practical challenges of dog ownership. And the third involves the commitment and responsibilities that come with having a dog in the long term. For example, the time needed for the dog’s daily care and training or the dog’s impact on the owner’s routine and quality of the dog owner’s sleep. Some owners saw the third component as positive, while others saw it as negative.
The Commitment of Dog Ownership
Commitment and responsibility are important. But the perception of these depends on a person’s circumstances and individual characteristics. For example, some people love having an animal to care for and teach, while others may not. Gillet cautions this component is the main aspect of dog ownership that people should probably consider before getting a dog. It’s important to think about what will happen to your dog if you take a trip or have to go into the hospital. Will you have enough time and energy to devote to your dog after a long day at work? “Before getting a dog, it’s important to be aware of what you can offer to a dog, and to choose a dog accordingly,” she says. “Or, to choose not to have one, which, in some cases, is also the responsible thing to do.”
Gillet says dog owners should realize that the quality of the dog/human relationship determines how beneficial the overall experience can be. Share activities and quality time together, invest in your dog’s training education, and learn how to communicate with your dog. Be willing to build an emotional bond over time. However, she warns that any potential relationship also depends on the needs and expectations of the future owner. “Reflect on why you want a dog, and what kind of relationship you wish to share with it. The second is to choose a dog that is most likely to be a good match. Keep in mind that dogs are individuals with their own needs and desires, which may sometimes contradict ours.”