Do people make fun of your dog "obsession"?

Eh, not really. Most of the people I speak to understand/respect my interest and amount of work and effort I put into Katalin and my general dog enthusiasm. My grandfather at times can be annoying about it and make snide comments but I try and ignore it - but that's about it.

On the contrary - people's ignorance about dogs annoys me more at times LOL "What a pretty golden doodle!!" "What a handsome labradoodle!" and my personal favorite - "A WHAT?? A Puvasz?" LMAO!!

Another relative of mine said "You have to take the dog out to poo you know" - my reaction: "......like, seriously??"

My family poked fun at me until my dog "obsession" started paying for my bills. Now they get it. But I also make a conscious effort not to talk dogs to them unless they ask. I don't show pictures, or gab on and on about them as I know that subject bores them to death.

No, I think they like it because that means they get to bug me with questions all the time. And I think I've taught them all a thing or two (this doesn't even apply to just dogs- any animal!)

My closest friend is a dog nerd like me too. She's not like a chaz member, she's not really educated as far as topics like training or nutrition go (but I'm getting her there lol)- she just loves her dog and loves spending time with him. We pretty much only do dog activities together because we both enjoy it.

No, generally they don't. It's happened once, but it was lighthearted fun from my roommate, and she is cat obsessed. I don't talk about dogs, and don't mind it at all. I have enough in common with friends and relatives that I don't feel a need to bring dogs into the conversation.

Honestly, if pets were brought up, I may mention offhandedly "oh yes, I have a dog", and move on. The most I've said about Trent among my friends is "yeah, he's a pretty cool dog" or "he's doing well" when my friends do ask about him or how he is. When it comes to dog health/training, I don't bother telling them what they should feed their dog or how they should raise their dog - no one thinks of me as a dog expert or the dog person of the group because I don't tend to give my opinion or advice unless asked for. Most of them know I like dogs because I have one, but none of them know me as a dog person.

One of my closest friends actually told me a few weeks ago that I "did not look like an animal lover at all"... apparently, I "look like hated them", whatever that means She knows I'm a dog person, though, she drove me to a Schutzhund trial at Trent's breeder's SchH club!

Not to my face . . . but then I'm usually accompanied by one of my "obsessions".

Mine too & me too. LOL

I thought about it, and while Elsie comes up in conversation, I don't try to keep the subject on her/on dogs at all, really. I don't avoid mentioning her, but I don't try to make people talk about dogs at all.

And yeah, I don't ask people to look at her pictures or anything. 'Cept my dad, but I know he wants to see them, since he asks after them anyway.

Sometimes my friends give me a bit but they're pretty good and they relise how important my dogs are - I do tone it down a lot with my friends though.
Family are all almost as bad as me though.

My cycling obsessed brother has tried to make me out as obsessed with off roading because the 4x4 community does more for the environment then the cycling community does. He is living cycling as a lifestyle, I view off rodaing as a hobby/interest, and I am the one obsessed. I also enjoy shooting, fishing, and rafting, none of which I center my life around the way my brother does with cycling.

I am ADD and Dyslexic, its hard for me to be focused on anything for very long to count as obsessed. If I was able to obsess over my dogs, I would say F you to freinds and family alike.

My family thinks I'm pathetic, one of my friends does too, most friends understand that that's just my thing. See I really don't care about anything other than the animals. No sports or other hobbies. I don't care to talk about most gossip type stuff. I like hockey and some TV shows, but usually stuff that guys watch, my friends are all girls. Since I know most people don't want to hear about animal stuff I just don't talk, I have nothing to say, nothing they talk about interests me. I need to find dog people, though I think I'd still be odd among them, most people have at least some other interests.

This is how I am.

I won't be the one to bring anything up... but I DO post pics and such on my FB page, which is where the "making fun of" comes from. Otherwise they'd probably have no idea how "into" my dog I am lol. I had made a second FB page but I found it to be too time consuming and just ended up not caring what people think anymore. Luckily it's really only this one group of friends and funnily enough, I met them through us basically following the Backstreet Boys around so, uh, yah... they have NO room to talk about obsession.

Thankfully it's not an issue with any of my really close family or friends, who I see daily and/or weekly. They totally get it.

Where are you moving to? Just somewhere else in the same city?

i don't bring it up if people aren't into it, but most of my friends are dog people. And those that are cat people I can talk about my cats with.
Of course my whacko cat thinks she is part of the dog pack LOL.

Nobody makes fun of me or calls me weird because I love dogs. My mom is pretty crazy over Rocky and Daisy, she'll talk about them like people talk about their kids. The two friends I have who aren't animal crazy have known me a long time and know that animals are my life, and have no reason to make fun of me for it. Actually, I think they like it because it allows them to tap my knowledge from time to time when they have an animal question. My roommates like animals like me, I mean the only reason I know them is because I met one of them while employed at FOHA.

Northern VA is extremely dog friendly, as evidenced by the myriad of businesses (dog daycares, boarding kennels, vets, dog bakeries, etc) that flourish here, especially in the more urban areas. And whenever there is an animal event, such as the Pet Expo, people and their dogs come out in droves. It is actually difficult to find people who aren't at least moderately obsessive over their own dogs, if not dogs as a whole.

By now my friends and family know there's no point in making fun of anything I do, dogs or not. I just don't give any f**ks.

Nobody's ever said it, but I think people probably think I'm a little weird. But I also try not to talk dogs if I'm around certain relatives or people that I know just don't care... which makes it hard to find things to talk about, since dogs are my main interest. But at the same time, I actually don't enjoy talking about dogs with average pet owners who don't know or care to learn a whole lot or people that aren't interested, as their views and opinions often irk me.

Even on FB I've now made a seperate list for "non dog people" so they don't have to see a million dog pictures or anything dog related constantly.

I really don't give people a reason to make fun of my dog "obsession." lol. My parents frequently read my blog and realize that I love my dogs- they've never made me feel bad about it. They'll buy gifts for the dogs and are always accomodating with them- they even ASK me to bring them down when I visit!

I don't really talk about my dogs with people who have no interest. I think of it like this: I'm bored as heck when people talk to me about cooking, sports, and their children, so I don't want to make them feel the same way. If someone asks me about my dogs, then I'll talk about them, but I won't go overboard because I don't want to bore people!

I was always a cat person, images of cats on every wall, on clothes, always kitties in residence. Then came Sophie...it started with photos and car magnets-there are alot of fantastic pitbull car magnets out there. And now four years later I burble about my baby to anyone!!! It's nifty though, like I can radar like-minded cat people I can almost find dog people by sight, always have something to talk about

I actually hate talking about the dogs to other people who are not dog people, because they are rather clueless, and then I'm answering asinine questions for a half hour. So I pretty much avoid bringing it up unless I'm asked.
I also have family members who only ask about my dogs so they can then go on and on and on about THEIR dog... not because they are actually interested in mine. "Do you dogs ever have $treat? Well WE bought one and 30-minute-incredibly-boring-story-about-their-dog-eating-a-biscuit." O.M.G. And that's just rude... I hate when people act interested in you to use it as an excuse to talk more about themselves. Like "How's your job search going?" "I haven't gotten anything yet." (Obviously since I don't have a new job.) "Well let me talk about mine for the next twenty minutes!!!"

Sometimes people ask me things about dogs just to argue with me.

"Does feeding a dog raw meat make it want to kill things?"
"No."
"Well, I think it does. It just makes sense."

...Then why the f*ck did you ask me?

Although I am definitely the "dog person" of the family, pretty much everyone likes dogs and doesn't think I'm weird for the amount of time, money, and effort I put in to them. Heck, the other day my mom sent me like five texts in a row about what Chloe and Apollo were doing, complete with pictures. ROFL When Mike comes out and brings the dogs out, my mom says, "Now the entire family's here! Hello, granddogs!" ^^

Now, Mike did laugh at me and shake his head when we were discussing cars and I said I would own a Honda Element for the sole purpose of toting around dogs to shows and competitions and such if I ever got in to that.