I agree that it is creepy and subservient… but it is also entirely accurate. The dog is a pet. It is entirely reliant on the owner, and it is only allowed to do what the owner lets it do. It eats when the owner tells it to. It goes outside only when the owner says so. It probably even had its genitals removed at the request of the owner.
So yeah, ‘master’ is an appropriate word here.
I find it a bit uncomfortable too, which is why I don’t have a pet. But from what I can tell, dogs are generally fine with this arrangement. Most dogs seem to like it this way.
“master”
I think they see us as family members more than masters
Now we need this but with a cat and the last panel reading “where the fuck have you been and where’s my damn food”
Do people who perpetuate this stereotype have cats? Because it seems like they don’t. My cat is psyched and affectionate as hell when I come home. All of my cats have been the same way.
It’s more a case of me assuming that it’s obvious that it’s a stereotype. You might say I dropped an /s which in this case has a different meaning.
Maybe, but either way expect some people to call out when stereotypes aren’t very accurate.
Especially if we’ve been away longer our cat will just go nuts for us for days. Even just coming home from work she’ll come say hello and maybe give us a couple roll-arounds to greet us. I get that it’s not quite as obvious as dogs though and previous cats I’ve had were not so affective.
I think a lot of people just don’t know how to read cats as well as dogs. Cats can be very aloof but still very loving and most people just know how to read body language from dogs more than cats. Knowing that when a cat gives you that narrow eyed glare and slow blinking is actually a sign of affection is a good indicator that cats are just weird little things.
Call me weird, but I will never understand the compulsion to imbue these barely sentient creatures with human-like sapience.
It is okay to love and appreciate your pet, but it is fucking weird to project human characteristics on them.
Your dog isn’t thinking thoughts like this. Your dog can’t think thoughts like this.
This is masturbatory, purely self-serving self-worship ascribed to an animal.
I like dogs. I dislike anthropomorphizing pets and unduly imbuing them with humanity. I take issue with modern dog culture that does just that, teaching people that dogs are “family” rather than encouraging normal and healthy human-pet relationships. You can and should love your dog, but like a dog, not like it was your human child.
Yes, anything other than purely unadulterated gushing love and adoration of dogs and dog culture is automatically miserly humbugging, obviously.
I see the comic as an attempt to translate the existential stress a dog “feels” to the human experience, especially it’s intensity. Because even with no language, no consciousness as humans have it, dogs do experience intensity you could measure in cortisol levels, heartbeat, eye movement etc.
The comic is useful for those who are interested in translating that to human experience. A communicative form that works well is narrative framing. It gives your empathy a correspondant in your conscious thinking.
Did you know that some humans don’t think with words? Do you believe they’re barely sentient as well?
The issue is sapience, not sentience. To imply that even a stupid human, a sapient being, is in any way comparable to the intelligence of a dog is offensive
So you’re saying dogs are incapable of acquiring knowledge or wisdom? They’re born and die at the same intellectual level?
I read somewhere that on average 1 day of our life equates to 1 week for our beloved pups. I think of this everytime I’m feeling too lazy to engage with mine.
