I saw a post not that long ago where some guy who was feeling a bit down on his luck decided it would be a good idea to post his feelings about his bad luck or misfortune online and look for advice or sympathy. This is a foolish move seeing as how I think that a lot of people online are deliberately unhelpful and look for ways to pick up their own feelings of self-worth by knocking down other people. In his post he said something along the lines of not being interested in pursuing romantic relationships anymore because they jut bring too many problems into his life. He instead was thinking of being intentionally alone and becoming a "dog person." The comments section was absolutely filled with accusations of dog people being boring.
Well I am a dog person and even though they were trying to be mean to the guy, I will admit that there is some truth to what they say. I was a much more exciting and spontaneous person before I had a dog and it severely limits the things that you can just get up and do. This is particularly true of you are living in a country that is not your own and honestly, as much as I love my dog, I don't recommend this life to others. When people talk about getting a dog as an expat traveler I encourage them to NOT do so.
But getting back to the original part about dog people being "boring."
I didn't intend for Nadi to come into my life (Nadi is my dog and is pictured above) I just came home from work one day when I was working in Thailand and my girlfriend at the time had acquired Nadi that day as a rescue. While it is difficult for me to imagine someone abandoning such a well-behaved and loving animal like her, that was the day where I didn't really have a choice. Nadi was going to be a part of my life. The girlfriend in question is long gone, but Nadi and I are still a team. I have done very little in the way of dating since then and while I am not trying to blame the dog, I know that it is a big part of the reason why that is the case.
I think in all of us there is a certain level of need for companionship and prior to having Nadi I felt it as well. I would always be on the lookout for a girlfriend but something just happened once Nadi became part of my life and I wouldn't say that I was no longer at all interested, it just didn't really seem like a priority to me.
Instead, I looked forward to coming home and playing with my dog. While I don't think I am a boring person, this lack of need for companionship in another person made me try a lot less hard than I would have otherwise. I had my opportunities, but I put considerably less effort into making it happen than I would have in the past pre-Nadi.
I think there are a lot of people out there that end up the same way and I am not necessarily saying that this is a good thing but I'll tell you what: I never have silly arguments with Nadi and there is never any sort of misguided jealousy or anything like that.
Nadi's presence in my life has made me a bit more boring in other ways in that I feel a real sense of responsibility towards her. If I don't go home and feed her, or take her for walks, nobody else is going to since me and her live alone. In fact, if I am out of my condo for more than just a few hours in a row I start to feel a rather overwhelming sense of guilt because I know that while we don't really do really exciting things while we are at home, she would prefer that I be there.
She also gets really excited when I take her out with me to one of the local dog-friendly pubs but here comes another reason that having a dog can make you a boring person.
If you are a good pet owner, you are always on the lookout for potential dangers for your animal. When I do take Nadi to the pub with me I have to always be on the lookout to make sure that she doesn't get stepped on, doesn't wander out the front door (which she likely wouldn't do anyway) and I am not really able to get involved fully in any conversation that might happen when I am there. Also, the conversations tend to be about my dog, who is much more cute than I am.
After a certain amount of time, even if I am having fun I start to feel bad if she looks tired and will leave a party that I am having a good time at for her benefit, not really my own.
I've missed out on a lot of trips, events, and even just things that were taking place during "dog walk" times of day because my primary devotion is to this animal. I simply cannot do a lot of things that would probably contribute to me being a more "fun" person.
So yeah, having a dog does make you a bit boring but I think you need to look around and evaluate how much fun you really need in your life. I don't really miss not being able to do most of those things that I mentioned up to this point and if anyone I was dating were to ever accuse me of being too attached to my dog I would get rid of that person, not the dog.
But before you take on a dog in your life know that what the people say in the comment sections are based at least somewhat in truth. Being a dog person will make you a bit boring - you just got to decide what it is that is important in your life. I know that I have no regrets whatsoever about becoming one myself.