“I don’t do humans.” -Ace Ventura
July 7, 2008 by John in Interesting/Trivia, Pets
Prefer dogs to humans? You’re not alone (or unbalanced):
The field of psychotherapy has traditionally viewed those whose closest relationships are with animals as somehow lacking, their affections pathologically misplaced, their devotion a symptom of their inability to forge healthy connections with the humans around them.
But in recent years, researchers have begun to take far more seriously the bonds between humans and animals and to evaluate those relationships in a more positive light.
“There are whole segments of the population that prefer being in the company of dogs than people, and I’m not sure that’s such a negative thing,” said Joel Gavriele-Gold, a psychoanalyst in private practice in Manhattan…
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To Gavriele-Gold, the intensity of the relationship between people and their pets is unsurprising.
“Humans tend to be very disappointing - notice our divorce rate,” Gavriele-Gold said. “Dogs are not hurtful and humans are. People are inconsistent and dogs are fairly consistent.”