In the world of dating apps, first impressions are more important than ever. In a few seconds, you’re forced to make an assumption of a person based on what little information you have. As difficult as that is, it’s necessary to weed out potential partners you want and those you don’t want! Boiled down, that’s why dogfishing is so problematic. It helps create a more positive perception of someone that may not necessarily be accurate.

What is dogfishing?

Contrary to what it sounds like, it’s not that ^^^.

Dogfishing: the act of taking pics with a dog you don’t own in the hopes of attracting a mate online.

Clearly, dogfishing is a lot less sinister than its evil cousin, catfishing, but it’s still annoying!

According to this study, guys are more than twice as likely to admit that they’ve used a pet to attract a potential date. And around 25% of men on dating apps use dogfishing as date bait.

Women are more than twice as likely to say they’re attracted to someone because of their pet but they’re also twice as likely to judge their date on how they react to a pet.

Why do people dogfish?

Way back in 2008, French social psychologists decided to conduct a little experiment. The experiment had a handsome young man approach 240 women at random and ask them for their number. Half the time the young man was with a cute little grey dog and the other half, he was alone.

When the hottie was alone, only 10% of the women gave him their number. Yet, 30% of women tossed their digits his way when he was accompanied by his ball of fluff.

But why, though?

1. Researchers think that owning a dog shows a softer, more parental side of men that women like. Women also tend to look for responsible and caring men who seem like they’d make a good partner and/or parent; being a dog-owner highlights all of those traits.
2. It shows how uptight or aloof someone is. If someone has a pet, odds are they won’t get riled up because of little things.
3. Another study showed that men with puppies were 24% sexier, 14% more trustworthy, and 13% more attractive than the same men without puppies.

Even though these studies hyperfocus on males, we’re sure it’s more of a general dating phenomenon used by everyone. Like, if I had a banging pic of myself with an extra cute dog in my arms, I’d use it on my Clover profile, guilt-free!

If you’re really concerned about dogfishing though, ask about the dog in one of your first exchanges on the app to find out if its theirs. It’s a dog eat dog world out there, gotta stay safe!