As the article says, for some people it serves as a substitute for having kids/a family. Life is about more than your personal well being. Maybe you disagree; there are certainly a lot of moral frameworks under which that's not a true statement, and unless there's a higher power to appeal to nobody can tell you that your chosen philosophy is wrong. But all of us will someday grow old and die, and dogs aren't going be our legacy, nor will they be taking care of us in our old age. Just something to consider...

Regardless of dog ownership, it sounds a bit ego-centric to think that life is solely about leaving a legacy and assuming your kids are there solely to care for their parents in old age.

I agree. I'm certainly not suggesting those are the only reasons to have kids, just two that I felt might resonate well with the the previous poster given the materialistic thrust of his comment.

> people will do nothing but work and tend to their 3 dogs, which inhibits personal development or meaningful progress in life.

GP was referring to this group of people whose lives consist of only work and their pets. Clearly you do not fall into this group. In fact, given your lifestyle (a healthy, balanced one), I'd say a pet has great potential to further enhance personal development.

Every person who has a dog/cat isn't stiffed, just that they progress less on average.

What I've seen is they aren't getting into real relationships or developing hobbies, and are instead becoming attached to their pets. I know it's dismal but the loneliness associated with being single is supposed to motivate you into improving yourself and finding a partner. By spending money and a few hours a day with your pet, you're not doing other (potentially more real) things.

This has really not been my experience at all. If anything, having a dog is an excuse to get out of the house. Hell, my best friend found his wife because they both loved dogs.

I'm happy to hear you like your dog, but if you spent any time caring for your dog then that's time you can't spend doing other things. It's less of a subjective qualitative analysis and more of a quantitative one

I guess I just don't understand what point you're trying to make. I'm mean, time I spend on HN is time I can't spend doing other things as well. Or commuting, or watching movies, or playing piano, literally anything we do in life that isn't directly related to survival.

In fact, things like taking my dog for a walk is a pure positive. I get exercise and sometimes my family comes along for the walk too. That's a boost to my family's health and relationships enabled by the context of caring for the dog. So trying to portray dog ownership as a pure energy drain is just not true.

I don’t agree. Most people spend their free time doing objectively useless/harmful things like watching TV and playing video games while being 30+ BMI and no friends.

Some objective things having a dog has forced me to do:

* I go outside more often * I meet more people outside and many have become friends * I have a schedule every day

Bro are you aware that dogs are absolute chick magnets? If you don't have a partner, get a cute-looking dog* and walk it twice a day at parks or other places there are people, and the ladies will just walk up to you. The exercise from all the walking will make you more attractive to potential mates too. With a bit of personality and humor, anyone can convert that high-quality potential-partner funnel into a good relationship.

* I mean take good care of the dog obviously. It's not just a tool to improve your love life. But like if you genuinely think dog ownership is holding people back from romance, you really don't know how things work.