Love My Dog, Love Me

Is your dog the ultimate wingman?
New York, New York is a city brimming over with single people—and it is also a city that loves its dogs. If you’ve ever witnessed a “dog pick-up” you can skip the next paragraph. But if you haven’t, here’s how it usually goes down.
It’s Saturday morning in Central Park, and a single guy out walking his dog stops long enough for an interested female to tickle him under his chin — the dog, not the guy… yet — soon numbers are exchanged, dinner plans are made, and man and wingman (wing-dog?) are on their way.
Sound easy? Variations on this episode play out every weekend all over this city and others at dog runs, farmer’s markets, and anywhere else where people mingle and dogs are allowed.
To understand how dogs can facilitate dating, just ask yourself — when you are attracted someone, what is the first thing you look for? Answer: common ground.
Ross Aikins, a single grad student who splits his time between New York and Los Angeles, thinks that having a dog can provide a great entry point into a conversation with a member of the opposite sex.
“When you see another person with a dog you know you automatically have at least one more thing in common to talk about,” Ross says. “I'd say having a dog definitely helps put a larger portion of the dating pool ‘on limits.’”
So what breeds attract the most attention? If my experience walking Ferdinand the Frenchie, is an indicator, the smaller and cuter the dog, the more likely you are to catch a single female’s eye. Ferdinand and I were having a tough time hailing a cab during rush hour recently, until a leggy Brazilian model took a liking to him. After watching her chuck him under the chin a couple of times and coo at him in Portuguese, I mentioned that I was probably going to have to walk him home because no cabbies were stopping for us. She promptly stepped out into the street, raised her hand and caused a traffic jam when three cabs veered out of their lanes to stop for her. Then she held the door for us so the cabbie couldn’t leave when he saw who he was really giving a ride to.
Bottom line – when it comes to using your dog to meet girls, it’s important to remember that your dog is just an entry point, but you’ve still got to do some talking if you want to turn that behind-the-ear scratch into dinner and a movie.
Has you or someone you know found love because of a shared love of animals? Tell us below!