How to leave the house

Please for the love of God don’t get a dog.

Recent related thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44223212

If you live by a dog park like the author, maybe get a dog, he liked it.

The rest of the article is about sidewalks.

That article is about a specific form of dog ownership. A dog as a substitute child.

This is about a dog as an additional companion, and having a dog being a social lubricant rather than a substitute for any form of human companionship or interaction.

I've observed the trend discussed in that thread. It's not universal to dog owners, but a subset that I'm guessing is regional. I don't think it's necessarily relevant to this article beyond superficially.

I think you can draw a line between general dog ownership, and the codependent relationship from the linked article. The latter is very common in women in their 30s near where I live, but I don't think it generalizes. e.g. entire personality revolves around the dog, can't leave the dog for any appreciable amount of time, cuddles with the dog in the bed, kisses the dog on the mouth, prioritizes the dog over family, friend, and romantic relationships etc.

Strong agree, we need fewer dog owners. It seems like 1 in 10 have dogs that are well mannered, meaning they respect other people and their space. Sitting on command (really in exchange for food) is not the end goal of training a dog. It needs to be calm and polite in every environment the owner wants to bring it into.

Which makes it even worse.

A dog for getting laid vs. being your best friend

I can tell you stopped reading halfway through or you would have said the first third is about dogs, second third about sidewalks, and the last third is about bikes.

And the conclusion is about a falafel.