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Pictures With Certain Dog Breeds Might Fetch You More Attention on Dating Apps

Posing with a chihuahua or a labrador in your dating app pictures might just get you the pawfect match.
woman and dog
Photo: Cassiano Psomas, courtesy Unsplash

It is no secret that posing with your furry friend for your dating app pictures is bound to fetch you more attention than others. Not only does it make you seem instantly more likeable but it also makes things easier for the other person by presenting them the golden opportunity of using endless dog-related opening lines. Pet pictures (with you in them—which is surprisingly not obvious to everybody) on dating apps are the real deal, so much so that people often use pictures with dogs that aren’t even theirs. And this deceptive tactic ends up working on no one.

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Turns out, having your own dog isn’t enough to improve your chances on these apps; you also need to have the right kind of dog. A new study has found that certain breeds of dogs help garner more romantic interest than others. 

In the correlation study conducted by U.K.-based pooch-friendly holiday firm Canine Cottages, researchers made fake dating app profiles using pictures of people with different breeds of dogs and observed the number of likes and swipes they got for each. They noticed a pattern among these and saw that certain breeds worked better than others. 

While men prefer women with Staffordshire bull terriers, women are likely to go for men who pose with Jack Russells. If not a Staffie, men would also take interest in chihuahuas and mixed breeds. Women would lean towards labradors or cockapoos. 

“Adding a photo of a dog can be a great idea if you want to be successful at dating. It provides an instant icebreaker and makes it easy for someone to start a conversation,” dating expert James Preece told The Daily Mail, “It also shows they are active and kind. If the dog loves them then other people will do too.”

The study was conducted exclusively between heterosexual couples in the U.K. While the correlation might be strong, dog breeds preferences are likely to vary geographically. Considering the major role pets play in queer dating, these findings might ring true across the board. 

At the end of the day, regardless of whether or not your phone is exploding with matches and super likes, you’ll have a loyal friend by your side. And isn’t friendship the only thing that truly matters?

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