What makes some of us "animal people"?

I really have no idea. It wasn't a matter of up bringing or anything as I am the only person in my family that is an animal person (besides my Grandpa). My one sister has cats, my other sister has a dog and my brother has a dog but I'm the only one that clicks with nearly every animal I meet.

I think people who are dog/animal people have empathy and feelings, are considerate of other people and animals, are giving types of people. Animals can easily recognize these types of people and so can we.
 
We understand that an animal can not take care of itself, so we are sure to keep an eye on things and are sure to see the animal gets what it needs.
 
Remember when you were a small child? There may have been an adult who was good at figuring out what you needed. Asked if you wanted water or food. Maybe it was hot and they asked if you wanted the air conditioning turned on, etc. You probably really liked that adult because they were considerate of your needs. Then there was maybe another adult (like when visiting someone) who was not considerate. Maybe you were very thirsty and they never offered you water. Maybe you needed to use the restroom real bad and someone refused to let you go. Etc. Probably did not like that person very much.
 
For those who are not animal people. I think these people tend to be selfish, only think of themselves, are considered mean and nasty, and could care less about anyone else or an animal. Some people are not very good at taking care of themselves, let alone an animal or another person.
 
As for myself, I see taking care of an animal as a lot of work. A big responsibility. I need to provide for my dog's physical and emotional needs. However I am rewarded many times over. I have a companion and tons of fun. Actually I enjoy "looking after" my dog. She thanks me for doing a good job with a few licks to my chin every now and then. Makes me feel all warm inside!
 
As to my fascination about what makes my dog tick, it is quite a challenge to figure out what a dog wants or needs without the dog being able to talk and tell me. I need to watch her body language and facial expressions. Then guess. It's fun to guess correctly.

having grown up on a ranch, we've always had dogs... so i guess the childhood impression stuck with me. had a black lab that was a master at the frisbee - i really bonded with that dog (i was around 11 or 12) - and besides - dogs are joyful to have around

Growing up I we never had a whole big ton of animals around. We had a cat (who lived to be 19!) and I had some fish at one point. But I always was fascinated by animals and their behavior and the more I looked at them, the more I realized that I'm really not that different from them. From a very young age, I saw animals sort of on an equal footing with me, not below or under. I grew up watching a lot of nature shows on PBS, and my dad is a professor of the philosophy of biology so he always had a lot to tell me about the animal world, and the more I watched, the more I saw the commonalities and the more the differences seemed rather trivial (yet definately fascinating still).

I don't anthropomorphize, but I feel that animals should be accepted on their own terms, but even so not placed on some level below humans--we're animals too, just ones with rather special brains. But other animals have other things that are very special about them too.

ORIGINAL: Billy_Bob

For those who are not animal people. I think these people tend to be selfish, only think of themselves, are considered mean and nasty, and could care less about anyone else or an animal. Some people are not very good at taking care of themselves, let alone an animal or another person.

Wow! That's a pretty broad paint brush you use. Take my sister for example. She never had kids and her dogs have always been her babies. She is crazy for animals and takes in all kinds of stray cats, injured squirrels etc. Great with animals but a disaster with people. She is selfish beyond belief and often mean and nasty, especially to children. I also know people who really aren't animal people at all. Yet they are kind, loving and generous people.

I agree Denise.  And I suspect that Spiritdogs did NOT start this thread to start some sort of debate.
 
Why am I an animal person?  Gosh, I don't know that I can answer that.  I have always been drawn to critters.  When I was a small child playing at a friends house the neighbor lady came and got ME to get a bird out of her garage.  Why I'm not sure, but perhaps she'd seen that I am gentle and loving with critters.  I was able to walk up to the bird, talking to it of course, hold it gently in my hand and take it out of the garage to set it free.  The more I think about that, it's really wierd that a grown woman would ask a child to do something like that, but it happened.
 
Dad grew up on a farm and he had dogs as an adult, but Mother never allowed them in the house...they had their own special kennel and that was that.  Decent women didn't allow ANIMALS in their houses.......I spent a good deal of time hanging out with the dogs, outside.  At two, a roving photographer set me on a pony for a photo, and from that day forward I begged for a horse until I got one.  To this day, I still consider the horse one of the most magnificent creatures every created.
 
There are some things that tend to feed my soul...a walk in nature, planting beautiful things, being with my dogs......perhaps that's what makes me a critter person.  My soul longs for feeding as only a critter can do it.

I had typed out a long answer with alot of detail and it timed out.  So I'll say it this way:
 
In short, I am a dog person because my dog makes me want to be a better person.

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs
Why are some people thinking of dogs as furniture, and others interested in their constant presence in our lives? Why are some of us so fascinated with them as companions and interested in what makes them tick?
Why are YOU a dog person?

ORIGINAL: Billy_Bob
For those who are not animal people. I think these people tend to be selfish, only think of themselves, are considered mean and nasty, and could care less about anyone else or an animal. Some people are not very good at taking care of themselves, let alone an animal or another person.

I agree that the way we care for others, whether it's animals or people, says a lot about who we are and what's important to us.

Some people who "love dogs" are called hoarders. Keeping animals serves their pathology. Like the example of furniture, these animals are collected as things, albeit demanding and complex ones []. (There were 12 aggressive dogs that cannot be rehomed at the shelter last time I visited. They were all taken from the home of a hoarder. [] They will all be PTS. That's an unfortunate version of the damage done by a pathological dog person.)

Caring for an animal can make us feel connected, not alone, give a sense of importance or belonging. I have single female friends who can not maintain romantic relationships, but their steady pet (usually a cat, actually []) is always available for lovin'.

Where I grew up, getting a cat or dog was sort of rite of passage into late childhood, when it was appropriate to start taking on responsibilities and learn compassion for another being.

I was always a cat person. Then a lizzard person. Then Ixa came into my life, and now I am a dog person. When I move out of the city I may become a goat person, too. I like to think that Ixa found me, and is a special teacher to me on this part of my journey through life.

Okay guys, I have a big confession to make: I am not a "dog person"! I don't love every dog I see, I think a lot of puppies aren't even that cute, and I sometimes find the intense level of commitment and work needed to properly care for a dog to be quite a chore.

But I love having Rascal in my life. Why? He's my friend. He's another living being who chooses to share his life with me, respects me, and is responsive to me. He takes care of me in his ways (barking at intruders, choosing to stay as close to me as possible) and I take care of him in mine (food, water, exercise, medical care)... I think the key is that, as houndlove mentioned, I don't consider him an inferior being. I respect him as a highly intelligent and sensitive life form while respecting how he is different from humans and has different needs. I do the same with horses, and cats, and birds, and maybe even fish (haven't spent much time with fish).

I can only answer this for myself...so, for me, it was a connection that was there in childhood and continues to change and evolve.  As a child, there was no "why" it was just an "is."

We had a farm and caring for animals was daily life.  As an adult it has evolved way beyond that to not knowing how to label that connection, other than simply a "kinship" or kindred spirits.  This is why I have chosen to massage animals and no longer people.  The connection goes beyond an answer, and that's okay by me.  I embrace the mystery of our bond wholeheartedly.

It's not only a connection to dogs and horses but all animals and wildlife. []
 
ETA: typos!

LOL Cita. True confessions, eh? [] I don't love EVERY dog, but certainly most of them.

This is an interesting question that I'd never really thought to analyze. I AM a dog person and I have NO idea why. I was born on a farm and was surrounded by farm animals but the dogs and cats we had were just an extension of the sheep, horses and pigs. They were service animals. Used for hunting or mousing. They weren't "pets", though I longed to have a pet. The idea of having an animal in the house was totally foreign. We might as well have a cow grazing in the living room as a dog.

My first pet was a pig. And his life ended in tragedy when I realized that my dad had meant to slaughter him all along. It was a misunderstanding, but still an event that causes a great pain in my life to this day.

I have always had a longing for dogs. I had cats for many years because I lived in apartments and in the city where I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to have the big dogs I love. I waited 16 years to get a dog, then I got 2, then 2 more. I'd have 10 if DH would allow it. []

I don't know why I love them, but I'm a Virgo, an animal lover.

My sister doesn't like dogs, but her devotion to her son equals mine, so I can't fault her. But dogs are beneath her. If they sit in the corner and don't lick or touch her with their noses and if she doesn't have to deal with the dirt and 'bother', she's fine with them. Yet she doesn't have a problem with a poopy diaper... Go figure...

One of things that I am truly passionate about with animals is non-verbal communication (even with humans it is fascinating to me).
 
ETA: to clarify non-verbal communication, I am referring to body language...not referencing the inner workings of an animal communicator or whisperer.

I grew up really far in the sticks with a couple of mean brothers and no other kids near by. The animals (dogs, cats, horse) were the only ones in the family that were nice to me, so to some extent I've always been more comfortable with animals than people. I feel very lonely if I don't have at least one dog or cat.  However, I never felt any particular bond with any of the birds (geese, chickens, pheasants, partrigdes), so I don't plan to adopt any birds as pets.

I'm not sure why I'm an aminal person, but I seem to have been born one.  By the time I was 6, I was the main kitty caretaker at our house. The new kittens were started off in my room.  I was the person the cats slept with, got the most attention from, etc.  We had an elderly dog, but she didn't do much except sleep and look for crumbs.  I'd try and nurse the imjured birds my cats caught, I raised frogs from tadpoles and cried when the little frogs died.  (My parents sweetly indulged me, and I still remember the funeral we held for "Hoppy") Our cats were independent and aloof with most people, but I taught them dog tricks like "down" and "shake paw." 

I knew every dog and cat in the neighborhood.  I am just one of those odd people who gets enormous pleasure from the company of animals, and as a bonus I find the study of human and animal behavior fascinating. I didn't pursue the required education, but I could be quite happy as one of those researchers who spends their days in a field observing critters. 

I don't think me being an animal person means I'm more empathetic in general.  I have more empathy towards animals than a non-animal person, but I don't believe it generalizes.  I also love kids and (most!) adults, but I know plenty of devoted animal people who are not fond of other humans at all.