Okay, picture the scene: it’s a life or death situation and you have to choose between your other half and your dog.
An impossible choice, right? So I’m not going to make you answer it. Instead, I’m going to ask you to choose between these two options instead: a picture of your dog and a picture of your partner.
A no-brainer if ever I saw one. Obviously, you’d choose the picture of your pooch because A) they’re adorable, B) who doesn’t love a dog picture? And C) they’re adorable. See? No-brainer.
Although… new research suggests we take more pictures of our dogs than of our spouses so we might not have any pictures of our other halves to save in the first place. Ah well.
The research was carried out by Rover.com, a site which connects dog owners with dog sitters, and found that 65 per cent of dog owners admit to taking more pictures of their dog than their significant other.
I mean, duh. Who wants a picture of an ungroomed, scruffy face staring at them when they’re feeling a bit down? Obviously we’d rather have multiple snaps of our adorable, lovable pooches instead.
If in doubt, you can ask my mum whose entire Instagram is filled with pictures of our dog. I’m not kidding, there are genuinely zero pictures of anyone else in our family on there – just the pooch. I’m not even mad, I can’t blame her.
The research, called The Truth About Dog People, also found that 54 per cent of people would consider ending a relationship if their dog didn’t like their partner. Yikes.
And perhaps even more damning was the fact that 47 per cent of those with a significant other admitted they would find it harder to leave their dog for a week than their other half.
The study also found that 56 per cent of people greet their dogs before anyone else in the family, while nearly all dog owners (94 per cent) consider their dog a part of the family. I’m not mad, I just want to know who the other six per cent are…
Basically, what we’ve learnt from this is that dogs are 100 per cent cuter than our other halves and as such, deserve to have more pictures taken of them.
You can’t argue with the facts, so don’t even try.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).