You read every day that times are tighter, facing a recession, yet spending on Fido is going on unabated. Despite everything, the industry has proven to grow. We’re looking at a 31 billion dollar pet industry for 2003. In 1994 the industry was 17 billion. Nine ten years later, you’re looking at a 90 percent increase.
Bob Vetere
Chief Operating Officer
Richard Wagner (who wrote the Ring Cycle) is buried with his dog. Fredrick the Great, the Emperor of Prussia specified that his tomb be set overlooking his dogs. And one of his dogs is in his crypt. He refereed to his dogs, Italian Greyhounds, as the women in his life. The anthropomorphizing is not new. It is the case that when there’s more work for dogs to do, when hunting was much more common than it is today
When herding was much more prevalent, those working dogs were treated more like machines. But those working dogs have been edged out. How many northerners have dog sleds? They all have ski-dos. So the proportion of dogs treated as tools drops because percentage of working dogs has disappeared. Of course obviously the guard dogs, the search and rescue dogs, our dope sniffing dogs are still here. And some data suggests that some dogs can detect certain types of cancers like melanomas. Can detect early signs of lung cancer with some dogs. Also getting the case of more dogs in assistance roles. So we have, in addition to guide dogs for blind, assistance hearing dogs, dogs for people with Parkinsons dogs. Even have seizure alert dogs. Can detect an epileptic seizure 20 minutes before it comes on so the person can prepare. And a lot of handicap assistance dogs. Those roles are beginning to expand. Rather than phasing dogs out, we’ll just change their jobs.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
It’s a really interesting period where not just commercial interests but ethical interests are coming together to present a situation where animals are understood and treated in very different ways…..
Clint Saunders
We’ve been contacted by various projects by landscape architects who are building dog friendly businesses. It ranges from putting in heated tiles in a home or business to certain kinds of fencing and water features. There’s this whole industry that has evolved around people’s passion for dogs and care for them and elevating the care for them. Despite the superficial businesses like dog spas that grab the headline, there are regular businesses that don’t just exist but thrive. Granted the economy is in the tank, some of the businesses have lost their clientle, but some are going strong.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
Dogs have always been part of the American family. Our social vernacular. What has changed is dogs are not just part of the family but members of the family,
Kim Levin
Photographer,
Barkandsmile.com
AMERICANS & DOGS
… who takes care of who?
a research report from Fieldwork
The pet products industry has grown by 90 percent in the last decade, today being a 31 billion dollar amalgamation of businesses. Since 1991, America’s dog population has almost doubled. And besides serving as everyday companions, dogs act as symbols of a range of qualities in mass marketing, showing up to represent things like purity, innocence and love, itself. At the same time, in 2002, approximately 400,000 people were victims of dog bites in America, ten million dogs were abandoned to shelters (a heavy proportion ending up needing to be killed), and dog laws are a source of increasing civic contention, dog lovers and non-dog lovers too often failing to reach some type of consensus on what does and doesn’t constitute civility within public space.
Given that 40 percent of American households include dogs, it’s clear that an awful lot of us adore them. And like a lot of things about which people are passionate, that adoration reflects and impacts deeper dynamics in our culture, some of which might have consequence far from their immediate source of orbit. Some of these dynamics may only be tangentially connected to business, brands, or products. Then again, other dynamics may also offer opportunities to be leveraged or suggest challenges needing to be acknowledged in terms of business.
When it comes to dogs, such dynamics range from the different ways people confront and adapt to growing loneliness and isolation amid our globally connected but self-individuated society, to the intense feelings which any social issue seems to arouse in post 9/11 America. Dogs may not be at the forefront of social change but they may well reflect our response to those changes. A few years ago, MIT scholar Henry Jenkins wrote a brilliant essay about Lassie. In it, he suggests that this early 20th century novel (later to be adapted as an early television show), used a dog as a character on which to pin nostalgic yearning for an idealized moral structure threatened by modern life. In Lassie, the canine hero embodies the heroic traits that humans should inspire, if not replicate. This summer’s films Legally Blond II and Sea Bisquit never came near Lassie so far as popularity, but in the way that animals played central characters reflected how Hollywood employs creatures like dogs to dramatize the need for idealized human compassion, in our post-millenial world such a quality very much seen as connected to diversity.
More dramatic, perhaps, was a quieter use of a dog in the news. On July 21st of this summer, the Washington Post published the sad story about Barry Long, the lone survivor of a family of suicide victims. A tall, thoughtful but mournful looking man, each day he struggles to avoid his clan’s fate of surrendering to depression. Lord’s ray of hope, he told the reporter, was Samson, his pet Pit Bull. The Post, as well as a subsequent interview posted on NPR’s web site, featured a picture of Lord hugging Samson. In the picture you see a man clutching the dog in a sweet but urgent embrace. Quite literally, Lord views his dog as the single being that keeps his faith in life. He just doesn’t have many people who will give him the same type of affection as little Samson.
Lord’s emotional ties to Samson may be particularly intense because of what the man has suffered. But many Americans with untroubled pasts are increasingly connecting more to their dogs than to other humans. Social thinker and writer Jon Katz recently published The New Work of Dogs, a book that looks at this phenomenon. Katz contends that Americans are not just anthropomorphicizing dogs, but we’re actually looking to make up for the absence of satisfying human relationships through bonding with our pets. This bonding happens in ways that place great expectations upon the dogs and at times (though far from all the time) only increase our isolation.
Katz’ books, like the Washington Post article about Barry Long’s solitude, provoke thoughts about how, as a society, we’re able to help individuals navigate their ways into communities that give meaning, sustenance, and pleasure. Reading Katz’ book also make you think about the whole issue of love (the "how" and "where" it happens), as well as the whole role of "caretaking" within America.
When it comes to "love," it's a word within our society that’s heavy with sentimental connotations. From gooey pop songs to reality dating shows, we expect “real love” to be part of our social inheritance and, more, something of ease. The day-in-day-out nature of real relationships is not something that compels much attention. It’s a bit too complex. Granular. But walk down any New York City street and what's amazing is the variety of people you'll find picking up their dog's poop. That's not sentimental love. That’s… well… a lot of granularity. And it’s an act as familiar to many aspiring super-models as to aspiring poets, neither profession highly tolerant to the entire idea of shit. The cynical among us might scoff, and spit out “ah, love conquers all” in derision. But the truth may be more complex.
Related to that complexity, too often the entire idea of being a caretaker suggests negative responsibility: namely images of impossibly needy people whose demands can’t be met, our solutions leading us to be able to flee someplace remote where we can fish, drink rum, or just laze in the sand. Alone! While there’s frequently a bit of truth in a cliché, something different is suggested by the fact that so many people are choosing to buy and care for dogs, a responsibility which usually lasts between 13-15 years. That's an awful lot of granularity in a person's life.
In order to further explore Katz’ thesis about the “emotionalization of dogs,” and how that may reflect upon the richer issues around "who we love," "how we love," and “caretaking,” and to understand how those issues might impact business, Fieldwork spent a week interviewing 18 experts whose professional work touches upon dogs, pets, and people.
OBJECTIVES:
ØEvaluate some of Katz’ findings
ØElaborate on the social implications of the way people interact with dogs
ØIdentify where it may impact businesses or products
METHODOLOGY:
Telephone interviews with Katz, as well as the following people:
|
Cameron Woo Publisher Bark Magazine |
Wendy Diamond Publisher, Animal Fair Magazine |
Allan Reznick Editor Dog Fancy Magazine |
Kim Levin Photographer, Barkandsmile.com |
Bob Vetere Executive Vice President American Pet Products Manufacturers Ass. |
Aileen Galt Animal Behaviorist Scotland |
|
Henry Jenkins Media Scholar MIT |
Ray Coppinger Biologist/Dog Expert Hampshire College |
Shura Bugreeff D.V.M. Veterinarian California |
Michel Hasbrouck Dog Trainer France |
Willie Baldwin Dog Trainer New Mexico |
Steve Ross Founder, Green Chimneys o |
|
James Serpell Director Center for the Interactions of Animals & Society |
Dr. Paul Watson Research Assistant Professor Behavioral Ecology and Evolutionary Psychology U. of New Mexico |
Clint Saunders Professor, Sociology U. CT, Animal Human Studies |
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. Dog Expert Professor, Department of Psychology University of British Columbia |
Jan English-Leuck Cultural Anthropologist San Jose State Univerisity |
Greg Dubit Dog Sled Tour Operator Durango Colorad |
QUESTION AREAS:
1. Changes in the person/dog relationship
2. Thoughts about Jon Katz’ thesis about anthropomorphization of dogs
3. View of media and advertising portrayal/use of dogs
Chief Findings:
v People look to dogs because they’re easier than human beings
o Expectation that your dog will love you no matter what
Ø The lack of human networks leads people to look to dogs for emotional satisfaction.
Dogs are much easier to get along with than people. They don’t come home and said you forgot to get the milk for the baby. They just say oh, it’s you, I’m so excited. They’re always glad to see you. And it makes you feel good. Because someone is glad to see you. You know how people can hold grudges. Dogs don’t hold grudges. It’s all over real quick.
Willie Baldwin
Dog Trainer,
Albuquerque, NM
American life is more isolating. Families are not the nuclear family. Lots of empty nesters looking for a way to extend their “family.” So they’ll bring a dog into their household. A lot of single people…. People who have a dog and who are not ready for the child but have a dog to help flesh out the family.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
Our minds are designed or hardwired with an expectation that we’ll have very close working relationships with people. That other people will depend on us and we depend on them. That’s lacking now on society. And I could see how people could look to dogs to fill the gap to some degree. It won’t be successful because a dog can’t do what a human can emotionally. But as indicated by increasing rates of depression in western society, people are desperate for others they can depend on. If you get a good dog and treat it right, it will die for you. It will put itself on the line for you, like very few people will do, anymore.
Dr. Paul Watson
Behavioral Psychologist
University of New Mexico
The kind of work we do that brings us more and more indoors and has us sitting in front of our computers. For lots of folks, just getting out to the dog park is their one experience of getting outside. Or connecting to community. Just go to any dog park and you’ll see how energetic that community is. They see the same people there everyday. It’s happening all across the country.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
v People sometimes project human feelings upon a non-human. This happens particularly in the United States.
Americans are more anthropomorphic than we are in Scotland.
Aileen Galt
Americans pamper their pets a lot more. Just look at what’s in pet stores over last 10-20 years. Better toys and food. They get a lot more babying than in other countries than where they’re utility animals.
Dr. Paul Watson
Ø People buy dogs as fashion accessories or to reflect some desired persona… almost like designer labels.
Can’t take a dog bred to be protective but aloof and bring it into an urban area and give it no exercize and then be critical that the dog isn’t prepared to be a vegetable all day. There’s are so many cases of dogs being dumped in shelters because it’s doing what it’s meant to do. Border collies which are too energetic. Or Jack Russells who bark too much. If you buy a dog on the basis of a movie or a fashion spread in Vogue, you’re not going to have that information. You’ll think it’s a fashion accessory and that’s a foolish way to buy a dog. The energy level of a dog is far more relevant than the size of a dog…. What seems to have happened is that there’s a feeling of entitlement because someone can afford to own an expensive dog, even though their lifestyle may make it an inappropriate pet, I can afford it. I will have this dog.
Allan Reznik
Dog Fancy Magazine
o Project humanity upon a non-human being
In the early 1960s when I first came to New Mexico and people still had time to live, a few vets would come by on their way home and we’d have a cocktail hour and talk about what occurred. One vet talked about a client who kept insisting there was something wrong with the dog. But he couldn’t find anything wrong. I asked him to tell me about the client, what was she like. He said she’s a mess. Hard to deal with. I told him that as a dog groomer, I found that a lot of people like it when their dogs are the same as them. A lot of people love it when their dogs are as allergic as they are so they can get a special shampoo. So we figured that once a week this lady would take the dog to find out whether something was wrong. So the next time the lady came in, the vet pointed out a little redness on the inside of the dog’s leg. The lady’s face lit up because she found out that the dog and she were really together. Gave her some harmless pills. Later he told me it took her three weeks to come back. This time he searched all over for a pimple on the dog and gave her another bit of harmless medicine. She was happy.
Willie Baldwin
Dog Trainer,
Albuquerque, NM
§ But anthropomorphicizing dogs is not necessarily new.
We keep hearing things like we’ve taken this noble species and turned him into fru-fru dogs. That’s a process that’s been going on for a long time. We have pictures from Grecian urns 2500 years ago of people walking tiny little dogs on leashes. These are clearly dogs that will turn into Maltese dogs. They were there at that time. Ceasar complained on one of his visits to Rome that he didn’t know what was happening to Roman women. They were less interested in bearing their children than carrying small dogs around. Relationship of dogs being pampered has been encroaching on our society for a long time.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
§ What is new is the mass adoption of dogs. What formerly was a sign of class status has trickled down through the last century to the rest of us.
Ø Dogs are capable of reading us
All dogs are descended from wolves. Wolves have incredible affection for one another. Very tight social bonds. So they’re pre-adapted to develop social bonds with humans. Not that it didn’t take some domestication but that domestication began a hundred thousand years ago.
Dr. Paul Watson
Behavioral Psychologist
University of New Mexico
They’re masters of body language. When I walk into the kennel they size me up to see whether they can jump on me right away. If I’m cranky they won’t jump on me.
Gregg Dubit
Dog Sled Trainer/Operator
Durango Dog Ranch
Dogs always seems to be aware of people’s moods and feelings. They react to things you don’t have to put into words. There’s less of an effort in the relationship.
Aileen Galt
Getting to know a dog, there’s a warmth, companionship there. There is a sweetness…. It’s not so much that dogs are teachers of compassion but a human can become more compassionate if they have experienced the love of a dog.
Kim Levin
Photographer,
Barkandsmile.com
They win hands down in providing companionship. No other animal species gets as close as dogs consistently…. They’ve been domesticated for a long time. They’ve had plenty of time to adapt to our needs. Been around for at least 14000 years and if you look at genetic evidence, some people think they’ve been around longer. So there’s been intense selection by people for attributes they like. Molded dogs to fit our needs.
James Serpell
Director
Center for the Interactions of Animals & Society
People are becoming more insecure so they’re looking to dogs for their security and their emotional well being. I don’t think you can get it from a goldfish, though it’s nice to watch a fish, but it’s a separate world. A dog is something you can bring into your world, your life and into your emotional life. It brings a sense of reality. A dog has to go to the bathroom and having a dog, people who wouldn’t ordinarily care for something or someone else, at least it makes them take a dog for a walk. People might complain but it’s one of the best things for someone today…
Gregg Dubit
Dog Sled Trainer/Operator
Durango Dog Ranch
Ø But dog have far different needs than humans.
The thing is dogs are not human. They have a whole other set of rules or built-in ways of being.
Willie Baldwin
Dog Trainer,
Albuquerque, NM
My dogs are not people. They think different from people. They have different interests. They are radically ego-centric. And I think the whole phenomenon of people… in which they dress them up in little costumes is at worst destructive and at best amusingly pathetic. It’s an odd form of caring abuse. It doesn’t allow them to express their dogness.
Clint Saunders
Sociologist
University of Connecticut
v Dogs become neurotic because they can’t live up to expectations
In some areas dogs are going crazy because they’re not getting any exercize. They’re not allowed to run. It’s what dogs are designed for. They’re supposed to hunt and explore. Their opportunities to do that are being curtailed except for dog parks. In my city, dog parks get no support from city government. It’s entirely up to people to create them. To me that’s wrong. To accept that people are going to keep these animals but not to do anything for their benefit seems strange. It’s like having children but saying we won’t building playground. People seem relunctant to make any adjustments to living with the dogs. They expect dog to make all the adjustments. There’s an assumption that leash laws are necessary for people but no thinking about what it does for the dogs.
James Serpell
Director
Center for the Interactions of Animals & Society
Dogs are not humans. It’s very pleasant to think they are like us but it’s false. When your dog does obey, you say he’s my friend. No, he’s my dog. He should live well with me. As a dog. Not as a person.
Michel Hasbrouck
People are depending more on their dogs for emotional needs but not taking their dogs into account. People are unrealistic. They personify their dog to a fault. While a dog has a social structure… they’re relatively primative. People are walking around in capsules not taking in the body language of the rest of the world and animals. So that negatively affects dogs who are in isolation.
Gregg Dubit
Dog Sled Trainer/Operator
Durango Dog Ranch
o Leads to dog bites and bad dog behavior
The way we keep dogs in apartments or condominiums, that’s a totally foreign thing for dogs. So now we have doggie prozac. Dogs can’t handle the stress of modern living any more than we can…. People watch tv and see perfect dogs and run out and buy a puppy because it’s so cute. The St. Bernard or the Dalmation is so cute. And of course that throws a great burden on the dog. And they end up with problems…. Usually when they grow up, I get a lot of calls and damn near have to psychoanalyze the entire family to find out why the dog is acting the way it is. They think the dog is supposed to be like to be like the Jack or Parson Russell on television. Those dogs on television are highly trained animals. These people are gone from home ten hours a day. They come back and the dog has eaten the living room and they go to the vet wondering why the dog has problems. Then they call me and I tell them they need to spend some time with the dog and make some rules and follow them.
Willie Baldwin
Dog Trainer,
Albuquerque, NM
v On the positive side, dog owners learn to
My daily life doesn’t revolve around my dogs but the dogs are something I constantly have to keep in mind in thinking about the future and thinking about the past. They’re essential elements to my lived experiences. That’s the case for anyone living intimately with animals.
Clint Saunders
As urban folk we are completely detached from the cruel reality of rural life and where food come from and what animals main purpose is in rural communities. That releases us, enables us to form these very strong attachments. In rural communities people can’t do it to the same extent. It’s morally difficult.
James Serpell
Director
Center for the Interactions of Animals & Society
More and more communities, dog owners are getting together and very often the way these things start is people get together informally in an open area or park area and unofficially take that area over for their dogs to run free and play with each other. Very quickly norms and expectations develop about the owners and the dogs. Dogs can’t be aggressive. Owners have to look after their dogs and clean up after them. It’s a form of informal social control. We care about this and take care that it’s not problematic for non dog owners. Often that will then move to a more official level where citizens of a town will engage in what needs to be done. Or lobby for an area to set up that’s an official free roaming area. Sometimes that works. Sometimes that doesn’t. Sometimes people who don’t know dogs well are frightened of dogs. Often a lot of conflict around this.
Clint Saunders
v Close emotional connection leads dog-owners to be very protective, and ignorance about canines leads non-dog owners to fear them
In some respects the media began to have a field day back in the 1960s. Dobermans were supposed to be the ravenous beasts that ate children. The Doberman people were very conscientious and put a temperment standard on their dogs and turned them into the solid beast that they are today. Every ten years we go through a different breed. In the 1980s it was Rotweillers. Now it’s pit bulls. You have to have a villain out there. If it’s not Al Capone or Godzilla, it’s a dog.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
o Leads to polarization between dog owners and non-dog owners
It is a very contentious issue. And an issue that quickly divides into different sides and stake holders. From dog owners to parents with children to other park users. Whether it’s a park or open space. People who are involved in protecting the environment also have a strong opinion on how this space is used. It’s a hot issue in communities.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
If you have never grown up with a dog, it can be fairly scary. Suppose you’re eight or nine years of age and someone comes by with a great big bouncy Labrodor and that dor, still being in puppy mode jumps up to bang up his nose against you, to you it seems like a great big beast coming after you. People who don’t’ know dogs, who haven’t lived with dogs, read the reports in the newspaper. A kid is badly mauled by pit bulls. Despite the fact that your likelihood by a dog, you’re seven times more likely to be struck by lightening than bit by a dog. But you don’t hear anyone to get off the streets when there’s an electrical storm.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
There are people out there who absolutely detest dogs. And their loathing for dogs increases the more irresponsible dog owners are. Every time when that person steps in dog poop getting out of their car only increases their rage at dog owners polluting their environment. Same with their parks. In our park in Phillie, there’s no dog park. The local people put their foot down saying they would have no dog park. But now, come nine pm all these dog people come out of the woodwork and all the dogs are off their leash. Nobody enforces the law. Trustees would have been better off entrusting this area of the park to dogs. There’s this kind of blanket opposition to the idea. Hard to get around.
James Serpell
Director
Center for the Interactions of Animals & Society
Right here in Durango, here in the west, dogs on paper and law books are considered a nuisance animal. The way the laws are written here is that any dog can be shot. And a lot of people in the west are carrying guns. We’ve had five dogs shot. It’s pretty frustrating. But as of lately, that’s starting to go out of fashion. People are starting to look at the dog as more of a member of the family rather than an animal chained outside…. We actually have a dog park here in Durango.
Gregg Dubit
Dog Sled Trainer/Operator
When I was growing up, there were no dog parks. I grew up in a small town where dogs just ran around. There were open fields. It really wasn’t an issue that made it on to the city council meetings. At the time, communities are trying to deal with great need for shared public space. And certainly there have been a highlighting of health issue around dogs. The dog poop issue. Comes up in every conversation about it. And then some well publicized attacks by dogs. Just people, in our local park, there are the skate boarders and the bikers and the dog people and the softball players. All these different groups who are organized and rightly want a stake in the park. That wasn’t the case in the 1960s.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
Well trained dogs don’t maul people. Dogs on leashes don’t maul people. The right thing to do is impose penalties on those owners rather than the knee jerk response that because a dog is Rotweiller we’ll legislate that dog out of existence. Ban the deed, not the breed…. It’s an unfortunate situation. Laws and draconian legislation isn’t the best way to deal with it. In the September issue of Dog Fancy we have an article on dog parks. What I found so interesting is that the writer spoke to so many dog loving non-dog owning people who went to the dog park for pure pleasure of seeing animals frolicking in an unfettered way. Something as simple as dogs being able to run free is so liberating in the simplicity of it that it’s uplifting to see that in the course of a stressful day. It would be a terrible thing if dog ownership were so undesirable that suddenly we didn’t see dogs during the course of our day. Because dog owners will tell you the benefit of making you a lot calmer and saner. But clearly dog owners need to be responsible and aware of their neighbors and can’t let their desire to own a dog complicate the lives of their non-dog owning neighbors.
Allan Reznik
Dog Fancy Magazine
§ Reflects larger lack of civic forums to discuss issues
v Media sentimentalizes dogs
o Become symbol of hearth, home, joy, sweetness, purity
Animals are often used symbolically in advertising as foils or symbolic as the kind of person associated with that animal. It’s interesting that there’s this phenomenon in society played upon by mass media that we care more for the welfare for non-human animals more than we care for humans. When a whale gets beached thousands of dollars, hours are put into saving that creature while people in thousands of cities are dying when they could be saved by that money.
Clint Saunders
Sociologist
University of Connecticut
If you take a look at advertising, you’ll see more dogs than ever in ads. For feminine hygiene products, you see a picture of a woman with her dalmation. There’s data that says if you put a dog in an ad, especially if it’s a person product type of ad, it increases the acceptance of the product by seven percent. That’s a huge amount. The dog only has to be there for three or four seconds. In that context, dogs are wonderful. If you want to show a happy household, it has to be a dog. An Irish setter type of dog.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
Certainly you see a dog in all sorts of advertising for products. Insurance. Cars. Liquor. In anything that wants to use a dog to add a sense of levity or give a sense of warmth or feel. There’s often a dog used. Also, it has extended hwo products are marketed. We have Jeep that markets inside the magazine. And they obviously feel that dog owners reflect a certain mindset that they want to court for certain types of vehicles they want to promote. It’s a demographic that wasn’t identified.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
§ Overemphasizes certain breeds, leads to oversupply/breeding
v Pet industry is dynamic and energized by mom and pop dog-loving entrepreneurs
o Went into these businesses because they loved dogs
Like a lot of people who start projects and publications, we started out because me and my partner didn’t see something that we were interested in. We had gotten our first dog and didn’t see any magazines that we thought were interesting or smart enough. Grew out of establishing off-leash dog area in Berkely…. That’s the case from small businesses to large pet food companies. I am a story that’s similar. It is a market that people are passionate about. A lot of the goods and services grew out of personal interest.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
IMPLICATIONS:
What does it suggest for marketers and product developers?
1. The primary drivers of the relationship are:
Adoration & Companionship
Chance to be caretaker
2. Americans seeking access to companionship
v We feel promised/entitled to the possibility of companionship
§ Through marriage
· Through dating
o Through friendship
· Substantial amounts of people don’t can’t find the time or environments in which to nurture satisfying companionship
§ Work longer hours or jobs are insecure which creates anxiety
· More divorces and single people without children
o Even adult relationships are more difficult to create or sustain within non-cohesive communities
3. People want to be advocates/caretakers for others
v We grow up with the expectation of being parents or caretakers
§ People are more difficult to care for
· Dogs cost less
o Generate fewer emotional and physical demands
§ But people still long to be advocates for others
· To protect
o To love
4. Opportunities and challenges when it comes to “companionship”
§ Role of marketing in satisfying public’s desire for companionship
· better portray an imperfect world where finding love, friendship or companionship can be difficult
o more accurately reflect the large numbers of people who struggle with creating a sense of community (for both physical and emotional contact)
§ capture the natural desire for physical affection, innocence and play
§ Role of product development in serving people seeking companionship
· Need for services that provide forums for people to interact with more ease
o Products that can actually serve communities (hardware or software)
§ Tourism, fitness and entertainment products that satisfy our desire for the random (non-goal oriented) physical play with others
5. Opportunities and challenges when it comes to “caretaking.”
§ Role of marketing in satisfying public’s desire to be caretaker/advocate
§ Vital role of corporate responsibility (brands as advocates)
o Brand campaigns that reflect the positive role of caretaking (satisfaction vs. exhaustion)
§ Ads that reflect our desire for advocates in our own lives (less stress on the individual acting alone and more as part of a pack)
o Role of product development in serving a public interested in being caretaker/advocates
· Need for services that empower caretakers/advocates
o Products that give pleasure within the caretaking/advocate position
§ Creating ways to ease caretaking for other people as well as dogs
SECONDARY IMPLICATONS
FOR SOCIETY
Ø Negative: If people really are substituting dog relationships for human relationships, it raises challenge of creating more fluid, self-sustaining communities
Ø Positive: Animal presence gives humans a closer sense of our own animal instincts as well as our capacity to play, show vulnerability as well as prowess, and be physical. More, people seek sources of play that is physical, engages their emotion, and is as free-form as it is competitive.
FOR COMMUNITIES
o Negative: Amplifies emotionally charged issues that can polarize a community
o Positive: Opportunity for civic dialogue that leads to people acknowledging importance of dialogue as well as consensus. And suggests that people want services and places that allow them to somehow engage them in issues of meaning.
FOR MEDIA
o Negative: Excessive sentimalization of dogs, especially a few breeds, leads to false expectations on the part of the public on what dog can give them.
o Positive: Dogs are powerful symbols to be used, and when used creatively and with sensitivity, their presence is immediately grasped and enjoyed by audiences.
o Positive: Tremendous creative energy of small entrepreneurs reflected in growth of pet industry. Open challenge for ad agencies to tap into this market
DETAILED FINDINGS
v Close person/dog connection is far from new
In one respect, you could argue that dogs today have a rougher time than back in antiquity. Reason is used to be the case that a gentleman could have one of his hounds with him virtually everyplace he went. Dogs were allowed in church. Women with small little dog was a fashion accessory. Nowadays we have all sorts of restrictions. I think the reason that people feel that over the past couple of decades that dogs are getting special status is not that they have this status but rather we have a bit more money to spend on them. So it was never a big deal to have a dog that needed to be clipped. And you simply considred that basic maintanence of your beast. Now you take your dog to a groomer and spend sixty or seventy dollars. It’s a noticeable expenditure. So it looks like our dog are getting more pampered.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
Part of long relationship between man and dogs going back to the Stone Age. I don’t think our hominid ancestors had the capacity for much of an emotional relationship with dogs. But we wanted them to act a certain way around us and our kids. If they didn’t, we killed them. In Africa, if you have a dog that doesn’t behave right, you just shoot it. Dogs over past hundreds of thousands of years, they’ve had to develop an instinctual theory of mind about humans. They can look at a person and know how they’re feeling. I’m not talking about Irish Setters who are mental retards. But a real working dog who can read humans pretty well. That’s why certain breeds are valuable for police dogs and personal protection dogs. They can tell whether someone who comes into your house is good or bad. They’re looking at you and your reaction. They’re looking at the person. And making a decision whether to wag their tail or grab their leg. That’s what we’ve wanted from dogs from day one. To take down the person who walks into the hut with evil intent. We feed them. They bite people who are dangerous. That kind of affection is attached to that. You’re leveraging the evolutionary history of wolves.
Dr. Paul Watson
v People not getting fulfillment from human communities
To me the biggest thing that has happened between now and the Stone Age is what I call fitness correlations between individuals in modern groups is very low compared to Stone Age. In context of how human beings evolved, we were very dependent on each other. Guarding each other. Aloe parenting. Individuals in a group depended on each other for their Darwinian fitness. Now we don’t have those high fitness corrolations. We have a society and technology that that we depend on. We’re not tribal anymore. So I think there’s a real lack felt by people.
Dr. Paul Watson
I did photograph for a man who lived by himself. He had a Pomeranian. When he commissioned me to shoot his dog, he said this dog is my child…. Even though he had this incredible connection to his dog, it was clear that it was a little warped. It does fulfill some type of role for him, but at the same time, it did make me sad because there was so much emphasis on the role the dog played in his life. It was like his wife. Child. Companion. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that with the exception if it prevents you from having normal human relationships with humans.
Kim Levin
Photographer,
Barkandsmile.com
v Dogs give people immediate love
Dogs respond. You can teach a dog to sit or stay. To listen to our commands. And I think you can teach a dog to be a good dog. To be a good companion.… Why can’t you get that from other pets? I guess you can. But you can’t cuddle with a parrot.
Kim Levin
Photographer,
Barkandsmile.com
I get a lot of satisfaction out of working with dogs on a personal level. There’s that saying that I’ve never met a person I like as much as my dog. They’re always happy to see you. I just enjoy working with them. People tend to be so inconsistent emotionally. Dogs seem to be so steady. Maybe because it’s they’re more in tune with the rhythms of the earth….
Gregg Dubit
Dog Sled Trainer/Operator
Durango Dog Ranch
o People seek unconditional love
I’m married. I have terrific friendships. My husband is everything to me. But I also see my dog as my companion, too. I work from home. Out of the day I spend a lot of time with just with me and the dog…. I wouldn’t say we’re friends. But when someone spends an inordinate amount of time with your dog, there’s a back and forth or relationship that’s established that people share also with humans. It’s not on the same level intellectually or emotionally but there’s a huge emotional component to feeling that your dog is your companion.
Kim Levin
Photographer
Barkandsmile.com
v Close emotional connection leads people to over-identify with their dogs.
o Close identification amplifies any dog-related issues
In many cases it may just be me and my dog or my significant other. Rather than mom and dad and five kids and a dog with a dog house. Role of dog takes on far greater importance. Fewer diversions. We have more disposable income. More free time. More aware of what we can do with our dogs. Everything from pet therapy to competition…. Our expectations of the dog have changed. And the importance of the dog in our lives have changed. A lot of people take their dogs to work every day. There’s doggie day care
Allan Reznik
Dog Fancy Magazine
We spend a lot more money medicating our dogs. Keeping them alive. Usually when your dog got sick, you did a family remedy. Never spent much money. If the dog died, your dog died. We still have that left over in the age classifications in the kennel clubs. In the past seven years was considred fairly old. Today if a dog lost at age seven we feel cheated. And we’re willing to spend ltos of money to keep our dogs alive. I know a woman who spent over a thousand to keep her dog alive through cancer treatment. You didn’t do that when I was a kid.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
The other thing is just how passionate and dedicated people are to their companion animals. The depth of the bond that people have with their companion animals. There’s evidence of that between medical care people are searching out and concerned about. When they say that pets are part of the family now, it’s a catchy little slogan but there’s real evidence of that in that people are preparing food for their dogs and really looking at what they feed their dogs or the medical treatments. They’re reading the labels or questioning the medical procedures. Basically the things you do when seeking out quality care for members of your family. Those kinds of trends, just like there was a revolution in health care and organic natural food movement, it filters down to all members of the family. Companion animals are receiving that kind of thinking too.
Cameron Woo
Publisher
The Bark Magazine
v Choosing a dog becomes a mirror of our public persona
As we become more cosmopolitan we may go to Lisbon and see a Portuguese Water Dog and want to bring one back… The fact that we’re exposed to new breeds and exotic breeds is a function that we’re traveling now. And we want something more exotic. The world’s a smaller place. Seeing dogs from Africa and obscure places now being walked down Madison Avenue. People want a great dog. Those core values haven’t changed. But there are a lot of people who want to make a dramatic statement at the same time as they choose a dog.
Allan Reznik
Dog Fancy Magazine
v So emotional, people don’t discuss
o Lack of civic consensus
There are still plenty of people around whose parents grew up in rural areas. So there’s a lag in these things. If you survey attitudes towards animals by age groups, you’ll find the seniors have very different attitudes toward animals. Typical attitude among the older age group is much more conservative. That age cohort grew up with a much more utilitarian attitude toward animals.
James Serpell
Director
Center for the Interactions of Animals & Society
Some people out there don’t understand dog behavior and they get a dog and it doesn’t do what they want it to and it acts up and the owner doesn’t understand or take the time to understand that dogs are not humans and need to be taught differently so a lot of times dogs get abandoned and sent back to a shelter. A dog is a 16 year commitment to learning them and understanding them.
Kim Levin
Photographer,
Barkandsmile.com
The city is not a friendly place for dogs. And depending on the demographics and the cultural mix, there could be fair degrees of hostility towards dogs. A number of people who come from the third World have very negative opinions of dogs. Having to do with religious practice. They’re insulted when they have to share a playground or park with a dog. In Asia, dogs are considered farm animals. Some people, to have a dog in the house would be as offensive as to have a pig or a cow in their living room. A number of groups in SE Asia consider the touch of a dog unclean. So they don’t want ot share a bus or a park with a dog. As we get people from those particular societies, they bring in negative attitudes. Although it is the case in Vancouver, which is multi-ethnic, you get an easing of those original views, it’s nevertheless th case that local politicians respond to complaints. If you have 500 dogs who attend a park and don’t offend anyone and you have two dogs who are nasty or out of control, then you will hear the complaints on the two dogs and the restrictions are placed on the dog owners. So we tend to see areas which used to be open to dogs closed down. We had a nine year fight
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia
v Society could learn from animals
We lived in a society that’s not just made up of human beings but non-human animals. Conventional sociology has been very neglectful of the reality of real social life in disdaining the sociology of animals. It changes the way sociology operates and the way we think of what constitutes society.
Clint Saunders
Sociologist
University of Connecticut
v Media
Dogs are used to manipulate public opinion. The current president and his dad are in fact family people who love dogs. But the former president, pre-Monica, is his advisers were afraid he’d lose his family image when Chelsea went off to Stanford. So his advisers felt he could maintain his family image if Hilary and the family dog met him at his helipad. Had to be a dog with maximum recognitition. A lab. But couldn’t be a black lab. Doesn’t photograph. Golden lab photographs too well. So they made it a chocolate lab.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C.
Dog Expert
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia